Adrien's Kidnapping
by Munkman13
Summary: Adrien is kidnapped and stolen to the circus. But the abductor isn't trying to harm him...he might just be trying to protect him! Adrien has to deal with an overly protective kidnapper, learn the ropes of the circus and try to steal back his ring, while the entire city and all of his friends are freaking out trying to locate the missing boy. Review.
1. Chapter 1

**It's been a long time.**

**I own nothing. Not even this computer. **

**Review**

The man stood at the bedroom door. He hefted the large bottle. It was the best stuff on the market. Guarantee to knock any one out with just one whiff. He held it in one massive palm before slowly easing open the young mans door.

The blonde young man was sleeping soundly. Snoring softly. The small black rat animal was snoring right beside him. The two looked peaceful in the soft moonlight. The man stepped carefully over the floor. He had studied the room often enough, there were no squeaky floorboards. No socks to trip over, nothing to give away his position or his presence.

The man stood above Adrien Agreste and reached down carefully, his large baseball glove like hands were surprisingly soft and dainty. He gripped the blonde boys hands and wiggled the ring off with one fluid practiced motion before pocketing it. The small black cats eyes began to ease open. It gasped and raised a small little nub of an arm in an attempt to ward the large monstrosity of a man off.

But Plagg disappeared without saying a word. The massive man gave out a little anxious sigh. He had been worried for a moment there. If he had been caught then it would all be over. The man uncorked the bottle and held it underneath Adrien's nose. Adrien's eyes began to flutter in confusion. He moaned and rolled his head and shoulders. His eyes briefly popped open in confusion.

"Y-you? W-what?" Then his eyes shut tightly and he was unconscious. The man gave a deep rumbling sigh. This stuff could knock out an elephant if left uncapped for too long. He was already starting to feel woozy. He did not have much time. The man reaches down and picks up Adrien by the front of his sleep shirt and hoists him up.

The man walks out of the room and glances around anxiously. He had used his undercover training to rewire the cameras so that they would show the same empty hallway for up to eighteen minutes. He needed every second that he could get. He quickly walked through the house, got to the main staircase and glanced around. No one was there.

He took the stairs two at a time. He began to duck into the hallway that lead to the garage and instantly turned back around. The woman was there. The one with the streak in her hair. He knew her name, but he didn't want to use it. Not after what he had learned. Not after he had ferreted out all of their secrets. She was talking aggressively on the phone, nearly screaming at someone, she finally took a deep breath and reexplained everything much more calmly.

The man waited until he heard the click of her heels moving down another hallway. The mansion might have been large but there were very few rooms inside. And the ones that they did have were ridiculously enormous. It caused a lot of echoes. Which made it easier to figure out where people were going. The man took a few steadying breathes remembering his training in the United States. He took a quick peek around the corner and sprinted for it when he realized that the coast was clear.

He was wearing very expensive shoes that would soften his footfalls. Just enough that you would hardly hear them. The man came to a stop outside of the garage door and opened it. He slipped inside and locked the door. His brow furrowed as he thought for a few seconds. He shifted the sleeping Adrien into a more comfortable position so that his small head was resting on his massive shoulder. And then he grabbed the small doorknob in his large hand and snapped it right off of the door. He dropped it to the floor and stomped it.

If you can't slow your enemies down the best you should do is confuse them. He walked to his favorite car, he smiles a small grin. It is his favorite car that he has ever driven. It is practically his baby. It has solid rubber tires, bullet proof glass and can actually comfortably fit his massive frame. He unlocks the car and slides Adrien in. Gently strapping the sleeping boy in and reclining the seat so that he would be comfortable on the drive.

The man glances around anxiously before reaching in and brushing the hair off of Adrien's forehead. He tucks the long golden curls behind Adrien's ears and smile to himself. The boy looks so peaceful. He was good at hiding it, but the man made his living off of reading between the lines and protecting those who paid him. And after years of protecting people he had become good at reading their body language. The poor boy was completely miserable, even when he pretended that he wasn't. It was evident behind his eyes. Those large green pools of emotional vulenrability.

The Man shook his head he still had much to do. He moved to the drivers side of the car and popped the hood. He reached into the engine block and felt around. He found what he was looking for and pulled the GPS and the tracker out with a grunt. It was bolted in and needed a few good pulls before finally snapping off of it's screws. He tossed it to the side and then went to the garage door. He pushed it upwards, he had oiled it that very morning. He had not been planning on this daring escape, in fact he only had a very vague idea of his plans so far. It was just part of his job description to do basic upkeep around the house and in the garden since his employer was too cheap to hire more staff. The man did not know why.

But he knew one thing.

Adrien could not stay here. It was not safe.

And it was only going to get worse. The man eases the door up, not a single squeak. He sprints out to the gate and unlocks it, swinging them open. He glances back towards the house. Only three lights are on. If anyone had discovered the kidnapping then all of the lights would be blazing and the police would have been waiting outside.

He sprints back to the car and begins pushing it outwards. He grunts and puts his shoulder to the drivers side door as he steers with his hand. He slowly and quietly as a mouse, moves the car out onto the street. The man glances around the street, the lamps are out, the street is silent. He grunts and pushes the car another block, his back straining and his teeth grinding. Once he was out of sight of the massive mansion he climbs into the car and turns it on.

Adrien moans a little in his sleep and the man glances back at him, his brow furrowing in concern, his heavy frown not leaving his face. He didn't want to hurt the boy, but he had to get him out of there. He knew where he had to go...But he didn't know if he would be taken in. He hoped beyond hope that he would be. The car turns on and gently rolls off towards the place that Adrien had been earlier that day.

The man spots the carnival lights off in the distance and can't help but think back to earlier in the evening...

* * *

The Man was standing in the parking lot, grass was pushing up through the pavement. His shoes were immaculately shined and his bodyguard outfit was perfectly tailored to his massive form. He glances down at his phones clock before growling at someone who was prowling close to his car. No one was permitted near his car besides him. And his charge.

Said charge was supposed to be arriving soon. It would be his curfew in just a few short hours. And that would mean he would get a stern talking to from his father. Which would also mean that the man would get a stern talking to from his employer.

The man sighs and glances over the top of the cars. How hard was it to spot a blonde sixteen year old who was one of the most famous models in the world with one of the biggest fanbase and following?

The man glowers at a couple with their child as they walk past. They increase their speed to get away from his sneer. The man grinds his teeth, he hates being out in public, everyone normally gawked at his enormous physique and massive muscles and hands. When he was a younger man he used to be proud of it. But now...well now he was just tired of all of the staring.

The laughter came to him first. He turned to look at the large carnival. The lights were still blazing against the night sky, the ferris wheel was lit up like a christmas tree and rotating faster and faster. Excited whoops came from the maze of mirrors and the carousel. It was all fun and games and tooth rotting sugary deep fried food.

And out of it came a small group of young adults. Adrien was in the middle of it talking to a group of other people his age. The man resisted the urge to smile. He let the warm feeling balloon upwards in his chest though. It was nice to see the young man so happy, so carefree. Adrien laughed at something that his friend said and thens hot finger guns back towards the young man before both wrapped their arms around each other and let out louder guffaws.

The man quickly identifies all of them and assesses that none are a threat to the young boy. There is Nino Lahiffe, an aspiring DJ who would get more credability if he didn't dress as a skater punk, beside him was his girlfriend Alya Cesaire, she would be considered nosy by some and domineering by others but that was simply because she had an impressive drive and an intuitive streak. She would probably make a fine reporter. Next to Adrien and blushing nervously was the blue/black haired baker daughter Marinette Dupain Cheng. Smart girl, and president of their class three years running.

The man quirks an eyebrow. He had not been made aware of their being in attendance. It was not inconceivable, since the carnival was one of the most popular attractions in Paris during this time of year. Drawing people from all walks of life. The three of them must have run into him there.

What was suspicious was that The Man had driven two people to the carnival. He then spots her as she steps out from behind Marinette Dupain Cheng. Kagami Tsurugi. The fencing prodigy from the extremely wealthy and powerful Tsurugi family. She was smiling slightly and gazing between Marinette and Adrien with a strange spark in her eyes. The man could tell from the tilt of her head and the way that she carried herself that she could easily defeat any of the others in armed or unarmed combat.

Adrien pauses when he spots his bodyguard. His smile falters before falling as he turns to the others and speaks. He seems taken aback when the entire group of them actually throw their arms around him and hug him. He steps out of it with a shamble and raises his hand to wave good bye as he wanders towards the fancy limo.

"Hello. Thank you." Adrien says politely as he steps into the limo. The man gets into the drivers seat and glances into the rearview mirror. Adrien is still gazing at the quartet as they wave to him as he is driven away. The man glances at Adrien again in amusement and then confusion. Adrien has lipstick on his cheek. The man pulls onto the street and then opens the glove box. There are granola bars, road flares, a bottle of water and a medical kit. He enjoyed being prepared. He also had a small box of wet wipes. He pulls one free and holds it over his shoulder with a grunt.

Adrien glances up in confusion before looking at his reflection in the mirror and chuckling.

"You would not believe what happened to me! The five of us were on the top of the ferris wheel and well..."He blushes and points at his left cheek. "This one is from Marinette, she is so sweet. The other cheek is Kagami, I wasn't expecting it and nearly fell off! But they did it at the same time that I think that I almost fainted!"

He chuckles as he wipes them off. He then gets his forehead and grins before pointing.

"Alya and Nino got me there! I got them all back though! Man friends are the best." He sighed in delight as the man continued to drive through the traffic. Weaving in and out and using the turn signals. The man rolled his eyes, it was ridiculous how dense the blonde could be sometimes. Friends did not give each other kisses at the top of a ferris wheel just to be nice!

But then again the man had no friends to speak of so what did he know?

"It was the best night of my life." Adrien sighs before leaning his head on the window dramatically. "I wish that I could live at the carnival. Everything would be better there." He glances down, the sorrow clear in his face.

The man notices, he does not comment on it though. He never does. He is not paid to talk, he is paid to drive. He wants to say something though, something comforting, something encouraging. Anything at all. Instead he just turns towards the next street back to the mansion.

* * *

The man drives towards the canal. He stops the car and gets out. He unbuckles Adrien and grunts as he picks the boy up. He begins to push the car towards the water. He jumps back and starts walking quickly before it crashes into the waves. He glances around. Not a soul around. Luckily no one noticed.

The man spots the ferris wheel blinking in the distance. He was almost there. He was almost there. He would do everything in his power to protect this boy. He might not be able to say it, but he could at least give the boy what he wanted.

A life at the carnival.

* * *

Anarka Couffine is startled awake and sits up on the deck chair before grabbing a nearby baseball bat. It wouldn't be the first time that they had a homeless person sneak onto their houseboat. Instead she watched as a car floated underneath the water and disappears beneath the waves. She rubs her eyes and sits back down. If someone wanted to toss a perfectly good car into the water well that was their business. Plus she could probably scavenge it for scraps. She picks up a nearby guitar and begins plucking out a tune before smiling and closing her eyes, letting the music wash over her.

**It's been a long time.**

**I own nothing. Not even this computer. **

**Review**


	2. Chapter 2

**Review. I own nothing. Not even this computer.**

Adrien's eyes roll in his head. He moaned in his sleep as he shifted and tried to get comfortable. The dreams were overwhelming, and confusing. He gasps as he falls into another one.

The small trailer is uninviting and very unassauming. There is the small cot that Adrien Agreste is laid upon. And a small fold out desk that The Man and the contact are sitting at. A parrot clucks in a cage attached to the ceiling and begins to laugh maniacally at the sleeping young man.

The man sits across from the circus owner who takes out his cigar and blows a large stinking blue cloud into the mans face.

"You have a lot of guts coming here to see me. You know that? I shouldn't even talk to you." The circus owner has a greasy bald head and a large black goatee and looks to be willing to see anything to anyone. The Man reaches into his chest pocket. The circus owner stiffens but the Man just brings out an envelope. The circus owner picks it up and hefts it. It had barely fit into The Mans hand. But in the circus owners hand it looks like a regular envelope.

The circus owner opens it and whistles in delight.

"That is a lot of money. You save all of this yourself?" The Man nods in response.  
"Where did you even get all of it? Actually never mind I don't want to know. And you secret service type guys wouldn't tell me. And it's not like you could." The circus owner chuckles deeply before coughing loudly and spitting on the floor of his small cramped trailer. The man touches his throat self consciously and growls deeply like an actual gorilla.

"Listen up you massive meathead. This is not a fun business. And I try to avoid kids. They always want to run away and join the circus then it turns out that its not all fun and games and that you have to shovel a lot of feces and deal with a lot of weirdos. Like me." The circus owner grins and leans back in his small creaking swivel chair.

"And this isn't even a kid running away to join the circus! this is you kidnapping a kid and then bringing him to my circus! Tell me something can you read? Does the sign outside say kidnapper circus? Does it say circus where people bring kids that they just abducted?" The greasy man shakes his head as The Man just glowers down at him. He is too big for the cramped trailer, both of his shoulders hit the walls and his head is squashed into his shoulders. He looks intimidating, especially with his constant frown. But if a fight broke out he would not be able to defend his charge.

"That's right! You can read after all! It says Tommy's circus! I am Tommy the ringmaster! And we don't deal with run away kids!" Tommy the ringmaster said with a sneer at the man. The man reached into his pocket and pulled out another envelope. This one had a few bills actually sticking out of it, there were too many to actually close it.

Tommy's eyes widen and he holds his hands out like a little boy begging for candy.  
"But then again you and I do go way way back, to the special ops...where was it again the middle East? America? Eh who cares we both some some dark stuff didn't we? You especially. And if someone like you took a liking to a boy like that and think that you need a place to hide out for a bit...well old Tommy is more then willing to help out a bit! I can keep you both secreted here! I can even give you a small trailer and a place in the act! Won't that be great! Wouldn't you just love it! Can you still do that thing where you break people's legs? The customers would love that!" Tommy's eyes are glistening from the smoke of his stinking cigar as he ruffles through the money and brings it up to his nose to sniff it.

"Oh yeah! Daddy Tommy loves that smell!" The man rolls his eyes in disgust, Tommy wasn't even the mans name. He used to be a member of secret intelligence who saw some things that he wasn't supposed to see and had to disappear. And then disappear again. And was eventually made the ringmaster of a two bit circus that got drastically too big.

The man taps the table to get Tommy's attention. Tommy glances at The Man in confusion, apparently confounded that he was still even in the room. The Man nods towards where Adrien is sleeping and Tommy frowns.

"Now we will take you both in, but the kid might be a problem. He has a very noticeable face. It will be missed too if I have to guess. He will need a disguise. How attached is he to his hair? And all his teeth?" The Man growls threateningly and Tommy snorts loudly and holds up his small greasy hands.

"Kidding! I'm kidding! But no one works at Tommy's circus for free! If you both are here then you both are working! Got that? That means that you clean what I tell you, do what I tell you and no smart talk! Haha! Sorry! Just a little circus humor from me to you." Tommy grins widely and The Man has to resist the urge to punch him in the teeth.

He takes a deep breath, he is doing this for Adrien, it is for Adrien's safety. It all comes back to Adrien.

* * *

The Man remembers it vividly. He had just finished putting the finishing touches on Gabriel Agreste's dinner, a simple meal but one that Gabriel enjoyed and that The Man took great pride in making, plus it was a nice change of pace compared to all of the very stinky cheese that Adrien insisted on eating (Or pretending to eat and just slipping it to his secret magical pet).

The Man had put the plate on a platter and walked to his employers office. He had not bothered to knock. After all Gabriel was normally hard at work in his office, or else he was asleep in one of the chairs. Gabriel did not often sleep in the large four poster bed that he and his wife used. The Man made sure that it was clean every single day though, just in case that Gabriel did choose to sleep there one of these days. He had gotten far in his jobs by being overly prepared, and smarter then the average person. Or at least more aware.

The Man stepped into the office, saw no one and put the food on the desk. There were files left out, pictures of children in Adrien's class. Names, ages, dates, schedules. Little numbers and notes besides each picture. The Man studied them for a few seconds. It was unusual. Normally his employer had pictures of models and fashion designs. These were much more...unpleasent.

The Man picked up the most prominent picture of the bakers daughter, the pigtailed Marinette Dupain Cheng. She was smiling and blushing slightly. The picture must have been taken off of social media. The Man puts the picture back down, he has worked for mob bosses and psychotic killers, he has seen everything. It is none of his business what Gabriel Agreste gets up to in his spare time.

Right underneath Marinette's picture was one of Adrien. In large red lettering across his face it said 'Nearing Breaking Point, More Misery Needed.'

The Man did a double take at that and picked it up, studying the charts and graphs, they were all clocking emotions and outbursts. And it looked as if Adrien was reaching a very large one. The Man hears a click behind him, he puts down the pictures and quick steps to the doorway. He gets out of the room just as the floor beneath the life size portrait of his employers missing wife opens up. Looming out of it comes the terrorist Hawkmoth.

The Man covers his mouth to stifle a gasp and watches as Hawkmoth de-transforms into Gabriel Agreste. He sits down at his desk with a deep frown before starting to rifle through his pictures again, not saying a word. The Man prepares himself to go running, to warn the woman that he works with, to warn everyone. But then the floor opens up again and out of it rises the woman. She glances at Gabriel.

He nods to Nathalie and she walks around the desk before holding up a picture of Nino Lahiffee.  
"He would make a promising next victim." She says it simply, emotionlessly. The Man takes a step back, rattled. He had seen people taken apart, spiders crawling across peoples face, water torture. But this was an entirely other form of evil.

And they were saying all of this right in the same house as Gabriel's son.

The Man stepped back still silent. He had to think, he had to plan, he had to get out of there! But first...he had to save Adrien!

* * *

The Man frowns at Tommy as the ringmaster taps his cigar out on the floor.

"Look whatever nonsense you got into I can help, I mean you greased my palm enough..."He chuckles dryly. "But we can't just pick up stakes and get out of here overnight! There is still a lot of cash to come from this place! We aren't moving for at least another month. So get comfortable." Tommy said. The Man sighs, he can't spare to bribe the ringmaster any more, it was better to have some cash hidden away around traveling carnival people just to be safe.

"Is the kid funny? Can he take a punch?" Tommy the ringmaster asks. The Man glances at Adrien and nods briskly. He had watched plenty of videos of Chat Noir being both.

"Good then he is in the clown ring whenever he isn't doing chores like scooping up after the animals or cooking...and as for you...how does the term strongman sound? Gorilla! The shaved simian strongman! We have a singlet ready and everything." The man...or The Gorilla he supposed frowned at the name before rolling his eyes and nodding. It would not be a glamorous job but he could work it as long as he needed to.

The Man...The Gorilla would do anything to protect his charge. After all that was his job right?

"Great! You both start tomorrow morning bright and early. You're just lucky that I fired a few of the other folks off. There is an empty trailer just a little ways down. So if you need anything just come back to old uncle ringmaster Tommy." The ringmaster smiles before pulling out another cigar and a match.

"Although we might have a problem with the kid over there. He has one of the most recognizable faces in the country. How attached is he to his teeth again? A joke! I'm joking! Not sure if you heard it the first time! What I'm saying is this. We will need to disguise him. The easiest way would be to shave his head...there is a razor in the new trailer. Use that. Should probably do it before the brat wakes up too."

The Gorilla nods his thanks before standing up. He and Tommy shook hands and The Gorilla picked up Adrien as he gasps in his sleep. The Gorilla winces, he wishes that he could say something to comfort the sleeping boy. The Gorilla remembers back when he was a child how whenever he was scared or having a nightmare his mother would sing a song to him.

He tries to force some air movement, tries to get his rusted vocal cords working. All that comes out is another grunt. He sighs in dejection before walking into the trailer.

It is small, and cramped. There is a stove and two cots stacked on top of each other. The Gorilla finds an electric razor in a small pan beside the stove and a mirror hanging overhead. He picks up the razor and rests it against Adrien's hair. So full, so many gorgeous beautiful golden locks.

The Gorilla closes his eyes. He had no clue why this was so hard. He had strangled people for less...Why couldn't he shave Adrien's head? He removes the razor and sits back down. He would wait until Adrien woke up in the morning and have the boy do it himself.

The Gorilla's head begins to nod, he felt drained. He shook himself awake and took the ring out from his pocket. He held it and the small black kwamii was summoned. Plagg shook his head and glanced around nervously before focusing on the Gorilla.

"Oh great so you're in-" The Gorilla shushes him and points to Adrien, Plagg glances between the two before floating over towards Adrien. When he wasn't immediately called back he quickly flew over and rested on top of the boys damp cheek.

"I'm allowed to be near him?" Plagg asked the Gorilla who nodded. "But I can't tell him that you stole me."

The Gorilla nodded again.

"Alright, just as long as he is safe." The two nod together and Plagg curls up on top of Adrien's head and starts to snore. The Gorilla leans his head back against the wall and closes his eyes. The trailer is tiny, but he has been used to small spaces for years. Ever since he hit his growth spurt.

* * *

Juleka snores loudly before sitting upright and snorting. She shook her head as a bright red light filled her room. Her brother Luka sits up from his own bed and rubs his eyes.

"She found the flare gun again." He mumbles as he stands up and changes with Juleka politely turning away. She got up and changed herself and the two went above deck to see what their mother had done this time.

Juleka and Luka paused at the top of the stares in surprised shock at what they saw. Anarka had a harpoon in hand and was yanking on the rope to haul in a large very expensive looking car. The red light conintued to blaze in the night sky. The pirate captain woman tossed ehr head back and laughed.

"Morning my hearties! Help your ma scavenge this brig that sunk beside us!"

"Oh wow, this is definitely a crime." Juleka mumbles beside Luka who nods as they go to help their mom scavenge the busted car for scraps and anything that might be worth something. Living on a houseboat wasn't cheap, and you had to find money somewhere...even if it meant dragging the canal and selling whatever you found for scrap metal.

This wasn't their first car, and it would not be their last.

**Review. I own nothing. Not even this computer.**


	3. Chapter 3

**I own nothing not even this computer. Review.**

"Where is my coffee?" Gabriel Agreste was sitting in his bed and staring at the empty place on his night stand where his morning coffee was supposed to be. For the past three years he had woken up with a steaming hot cup of coffee ready right beside his bed without fail.

But not today. Something was not right, which meant that his chef was going to get a hell of a chewing out. Gabriel got out of his bed and got dressed. His wardrobe was filled with the exact same outfit over and over again. It soothed him, it made things feel consistent. And he needed consistency.

He moans and rubs his forehead. If he didn't get his coffee soon then he was going to have a headache for the entire day. And that would be unacceptable.

Gabriel growls as he leaves his room and looks around. Where the devil was everyone?

"Nathalie?" He calls out before he walks down the corridor to his study. The lights are all out, there is no smell of cooking food, there is nothing at all...It was incredibly unnerving. He had expected the windows to be opened, his meal prepared, his schedule organized. Gabriel paused and cocked his head, the doorbell was going off, over and over again.

He power walked to the computer and operated the camera. The screen buzzed on and there was a very confused looking Nathalie waiting at the front gate.  
"Well are you going to let me in already? We are very behind schedule." She snaps as she tucked some hair behind her ear.  
"I will, but I would mind your tongue next time young woman." Gabriel said sternly as he pressed the button that opened the gate to his assistant. Nathalie's entire face paled as she heard the voice. She rapidly walked through the courtyard and met Gabriel by the front door her embarassment was gone and now she was just confused.

"Forgive me sir, but I was expecting the usual doorman. He buzzes me in every morning without fail." Nathalie looked at her confused employeer as Gabriel Agreste mulled over her words and tried to make sense of them.

"Nathalie something is incredibly wrong. I can feel it...Tell me has Adrien-" He pauses when he sees the womans face melt into a confused one.

"Adrien? I would think that he is still at breakfast. His school day begins-" She checked her watch and then at Gabriels face. He is already turning around and power walking and then sprinting up the stairs of the grand marble staircase towards his sons room.

"ADRIEN!" Gabriel shouts as he knocks in the door. Not even bothering to knock, his heart is in his throat as he glances around, the bedsheets are tossed back, but the backpack is right where Adrien had tossed it the other day. The windows were closed and locked. Gabriel glanced around nervously, it looked normal beside that. But clearly and most importantly. Adrien was not in his room.

Gabriel's heart skipped a beat. The room was empty, the windows closed, the backpack here...And Nathalie had been locked out of the house. The overwhelming feeling that something had gone terribly terribly wrong was growing. He felt his heart start beating at a mile a minute as he rounded on his assistant who stood nervously in the doorway.

"Something is wrong. Adrien is gone. I think that he has been kidnapped." Gabriel snapped out curtly towards her, his eyes hardening. Nathalie's eyes widened before she attempted a small comforting tilt of her head.

"Sir isn't that a little extreme, he probably just left for school early today, I don't think that there is any reason to be-" Gabriel pointed down to Adrien's side table. His phone was still plugged in, Gabriel pointed towards his son's backpack. And finally he pointed towards his sons twisted up bedsheets.

"My son has always had his phone with him, my son would not just forget his school bag. And the beds are always made every morning. Something is amiss Nathalie. I can feel it. I need you two to...you to...where is the other one?" Nathalie looks around before finally realizing who he meant.

"He wasn't already inside?" Nathalie asked in confusion. Gabriel's brow furrowed. He had hired the man to protect his son a long time ago. He was always so silent and private that soon Gabriel did not even think of him at all. Which made it easier to deal with Adrien since he tried not to think of his son too often either...

"He has a bedroom in the mansion. I know that much, go and check up on him immediately." Gabriel snaps as he pushes past his assistant who stared after him. She started after him once she realized that he had just been thinking out loud and was already on his way towards the man's smaller bedroom already.

Gabriel had not moved this fast in years and he was starting to feel sick to his stomach. The bodyguard gone, his son gone, not woken up. The pieces were all there and they were starting to come together.

Gabriel skids around the corner and past the bathroom, he yanks open the bodyguards door and stares into a closet. Gabriel's mouth drops before he pushes aside the three outfits that are all the same, on the floor are three pairs of boots, and across the back wall is a large collection of collectiable action figures lined on shelves. Most of them in the original packaging. A safe lies open on the floor.

Gabriel glances back at Nathalie as she walks past a large wing back chair before glancing between it and Gabriel and then back at the bathroom.

"Sir, you have so many empty rooms here...And there is only you and Adrien and his bodyguard...Did you even bother to see where he slept?" Nathalie asks as she stares into the closet.  
"Are you implying that I paid a man to live here and he just used a small closet, a guest bathroom, and a chair in the corridor, without me realizing any of it?" Gabriel snapped in irritation.

"Gabriel...That seems to be the only logical conclusion." Gabriel spun on his heel and sprinted from one room to the next, kicking down doors, ripping open windows. Sticking his head into every single room that he could find. The kitchen? Empty. The dining room? Empty. The parlor? Empty. And bedroom after bedroom after corridor just lead to more emptiness.

"They are both gone." Gabriel said clenching his fist. His teeth grinding together. His mind clicked it all into place within a few seconds.

"Why would they leave though? Adrien could have run away and then his bodyguard followed after him. He probably did not want to wake you up. He is very considerate." Nathalie said soothingly. Gabriel turned quickly to face her and shook his head.

"No. We need to be rational about this. He would have woken me up. I have a more accurate theory. He must know."

"Know...Gabriel...You don't mean..."She brings her hands to her mouth in shock.  
"We need to assume that one or both of them saw me transform. That they know my secret identity. And that they are both on the run as we speak." Gabriel's glare hardens as he stares at the woman standing before him. She tries not to roll her eyes, he always acts so seriously that it is hard to take him seriously...But he does make a good point.

"I assume that we shall call the authorities and inform them about the situation with-" Nathalie found herself drawing a blank. She didn't actually know the mans name. He must have told her at one point. Or Gabriel mentioned it at one point...But she could not for the life of her remember it.

"Yes, immediately. Get the police here this instant." Gabriel said as he strode off towards his office. He paused once he got in. Was he overreacting? Not in the least. Gabriel knew how dangerous this information could be. He sat down at his computer and pulled up the security feed to his office and then to the hallway. He rewound the film and closes his eyes in disgust. He had been careless. The bodyguard had opened the door and snooped, he had gone over all of the files of Adrien's classmates, they were possibly the most emotionally vulnerable people in Paris.

Gabriel had exploited them multiple times. It was incredibly easy. He frowns as he watches the old film of him rising from the floor and then detransforming. And in the hallway feed there stood the bodyguard.

Watching, mute. But learning one of the greatest kept secrets in the entire world.

"What was your name?" Gabriel grumbles. He never bothered to learn the helps name, all that mattered was his family and his art. But now he was kicking himself for not having bothered to learn more about the man.

He knew that he was ex-special ops, had spent time in multiple different country's and was registered as a lethal weapon and had experienced some sort of throat trauma which limited his vocal cord control to a severe degree. Something tickled at the back of Gabriel's skull and he snapped his fingers.

"The Gorilla, that was the nickname that they gave you wasn't it? The Gorilla, by your superiors, by the spy network, by the criminal underground." Gabriel pulled up camera feeds from last night and ran through them until he saw the Gorilla moving through the house quickly and silently. Gabriel frowns, multiple of the cameras were turning to static.

"What in the world?" Gabriel then pulls back in surprise as a massive hand fills one screen and then fiddles with the camera before a loop plays. Gabriel fast forwards for a few hours.

Adrien's door in the screen remains closed for three hours, and then the camera cuts for a second and the door is open. Gabriel checks the time. Somewhere between midnight and five AM. An inconveince. But a surmountable one.

Gabriel leans back and shakes his head. The Gorilla was a professional and had run in multiple circles through the years. He had killed many people, he had been all over the world. And now he had stolen Gabriel's son.

"Congratulations Gorilla, you are a dead man walking. You just don't know it." Gabriel mumbles as he closes out of his computer and places his elbows on the desk. He snarls. He was going to bury this man. He was going to ruin this man. He was going to scorch the earth where the Gorilla had stood and then salt it. He was not thinking these things lightly. He was already thinking of horrible ways to punish the man.

He winces and touches his forehead. He was getting a headache. Where was his coffee?

He presses a button to connect to the kitchen before picking up his phone and watching the camera feed. The kitchen was empty. He waited a few more seconds and then presses the button again.  
"Where the devil are you?" He growls in irritation. Where was his chef? His maids? His butlers and...Gabriel pauses in amazement. He had never seen a single one of them. He had never seen a maid dust the halls or a butler pick up his packages...or a gardener to tend his lawns...

Gabriel pulled up a camera feed from two weeks ago and went through it, he watches in amazement as The Gorilla enters the kitchen and starts to prepare some food, he is matter of fact about it, seems to weigh every action carefully and move with a fluidity and grace that Gabriel had not been expecting.  
"It can't be."

Gabriel mumbles in confusion, he pulls up a video of the garden and nearly falls out of his seat as he watches the Gorilla push a lawnmower across the lawn, going at a decent pace before turning to the flower beds with a determined look in his hands. He was still wearing the pink apron with flowers across it that he had been wearing when preparing food.

"Are you kidding me?" Gabriel deadpans. Did he only have his son's bodyguard as a constant worker? Was the Gorilla doing all of the chores necessary to run a mansion of this size completely on his own? And still finding time to protect Adrien from attacks...

"Well this explains why I only write two checks every month." He grumbles as he turns through his camera feeds and watches as Adrien's bodyguard cleaned the entire mansion, did the laundry, made meals, tended to the garden and washed the car. "This is ridiculous."

Gabriel watches the cameras in amazement, the knock at the door brought him out of his thoughts. He turned to see Nathalie standing in the doorway beside a police officer.

The officer was portly, had ridiculous orange hair, a bald spot and was gazing around him in awe. This was the most wealth that he had ever seen in his life.

"Nathalie. Go and prepare a pot of coffee while I discuss the situation with our guest." Gabriel spoke simply and gestured to the empty chair in front of his desk. "Sit, we have much to discuss."

* * *

"Mom I'm pretty sure this is illegal." Luka said as he wiped off some grease from his forehead. He was covered in a small layer of grime and filthy canal water. They had managed to remove the glass and get into the body of the car.

But it had taken them close to three hours to actually work the machine onto their boat. It was enormous and the three of them did not own a winch.

"Bah! What is illegal about gathering up garbage? Listen to what your captain says! And what she says is that-"  
"Whatever is in the water belongs to us." Juleka and Luka say at the same time rolling their eyes. They had heard the speech often enough.

"Besides what crime would we be committing anyhow?" Anarka said smugly as she rolled the tires into the pile of things that they were going to keep. The rest they would sell for scrap.  
"Not reporting a crime, illegal chop shop. Theft I guess..." Luka said as Juleka popped out of the engine block and shook her hand as she blew on her thumb, she had banged it pretty badly against a belt while working it off.  
"You okay?" He called to his sister who mumbled in response before she went back to working.

'Can't believe we're doing this.' She thought to herself as she removed another belt with a grunt. She then pauses as she looked around the inside of the car. She pulls herself out and walks to the side of the car. She runs her hand across the door and wipes the water and grime off on her skirt. The car looked familiar. It was super fancy...Much fancier then their house boat...

She opened the door and stuck her head in and glanced to either side. She felt like she had ridden in this thing before.  
"I know this car." She whispers to herself before pulling back and tapping her chin. Her eyes widen as it hits her. "Adrien Agreste. This is his car."

"What was that second mate?" Anarka called to her daughter. Juleka looked between her mom and her brother trying to decide how she should break this news to them. And what exactly it would mean.

Before she could open her mouth the radio that the trio were listening to gave out a loud beep as an announcement came on. The three listened, then their eyes widened and their jaws dropped at the information that was coming through.

"Oh dear." Juleka mumbles in distress as she glances between the radio and the car. This was not going to look good for them. She sighs, she was really hoping that the cops wouldn't have to be called over to the house this week.

**I own nothing not even this computer.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Review. I own nothing, not even this computer.**

Adrien opens his eyes and looks around in confusion as the colors continued to swirl around his head. He swings his hands through the large clouds of green and black that swirled in large globes around him.

"Where am I?" He mumbles as he takes a step before falling a thousand feet. He doesn't scream, somehow he is unafraid. He lands on his feet and glances around. The rainbow colored globes had dissapeared.

"Okay...This is freaky. Like really uncomfortably freaky. What's going on?" He asks himself before a weird voice comes from behind him. It is loud and causes him to cover his ears as the words ring all around him.

"Choose one." The words echo around him, multiplying. He turns in shock and sees Marinette Dupain Cheng. He smiles in relief.

"Oh! Marinette! Okay, this has to be a good dream right? I mean you're here so it..."She was staring at him blankly, her head tilted to the side a little bit, her mouth in a firm line. She looked sort of pissed off.

"Marinette?" Adrien asks nervously as he reaches out to the pigtailed bluenette.  
"Choose." She says simply before stepping back and falling through the cloud covered floor. Adrien moves to where she had fallen, but it is just firm nothingness.

"Choose one." A voice snaps out loudly behind him, like a breaking straw. Adrien turns again with a frown.  
"You know I'm getting sort of sick and tired of all of this turning around. I'm going to give myself whiplash if it happens again." He says jokingly to the figure. He quirks an eyebrow hoping that he came off as funny.

The stern looking Kagami just continued to glower at him. Her bangs were covering her eyes. Her normal frown was even more pronounced. She almost looked like she was in pain.  
"Choose one." She said before giving a little hop and going through the floor. Adrien found himself falling again, the wind rushing past him and blowing his hair all over the place. He gasps as he tries to grasp onto something. Words swirling all around him as he glanced around in amazement.

"Choose one." Marinette...That had to be Marinette.

"It's not fair." Kagami. She was being very very controlled.

Adrien covered his ears as he shook his head, the stimulation was driving him insane!  
"Choose what?! What are you two asking me to do?!" He gasps out as he lands heavily on his knees and hands. They were sinking into an enormous yellow white circle that covered the entire world. He stuck out his tongue in disgust. It smelt like moldy old socks.  
"This is so gross!" Adrien complained as he struggled to his feet before falling again, this time even harder. Two massive doors appeared before him, one was white with pink flower petals dancing across it. The other was red with a black ying yang symbol and a yellow line down the center. He blinked and the doors seemed to move closer.

"What? Choose what?" He said shouting above the din of the words echoing around him, getting louder and closer. The darkness was stifling and the cheese smell was starting to get to his head.

"Choose someone. You need to do it eventually. It's not fair to them, or to you that you haven't." The voice was familiar. Music to his ears. Adrien perked up as she walked between the two doors. Her red suit hugging her body. Her eyes were staring right into his soul.  
"Ladybug." He says in delight as he tries to pull his hand free. But the stinking slime just sucked him in even deeper. Ladybug offered her hand out, staring down at him as if he was not even trying.

She sighed and shook her head.  
"Oh Adrien. You need to choose one already. It's not right that this has been going on for so long." She said shaking her head.  
"What's been going on? Ladybug please help me up..."He felt his face heating up, his mind was getting clogged with that disgusting smell.

"One of the girls! Come on! This is like your biggest thing!" She said pointing between the doors. "So who is it going to be? Just choose one and move on. Let them go. Give them closure. Give yourself closure. It's been years."

She looked sad all of a sudden. Adrien felt his heart twinge. He didn't want his lady to be sad, she was the world to him! He glanced around in amazement before looking at her with a serious glint in his eyes.

"But where is your door my lady?" He hoped that the smirk would tell this dream Ladybug the truth. But she just chuckled and shook her head.

"Oh silly kitty. I was never a choice. And I think we both know that." She said pointing between the two doors. "Now who are you going to choose? Because if you wait much longer..."

She taps one door and then the other. The doors shiver and then collapse downwards into the stinking cesspool and then Ladybug began sinking too.  
"LADYBUG!" Adrien howled out, he was soon up to his waist in the yellow white ooze. Ladybug looked up at him sadly, she was sinking faster and was already up to her neck.

"If you wait much longer you won't be able to choose at all." She said as her face disappeared beneath the surface. Adrien tried to struggle forwards. But he was also getting sucked down. He looked upwards trying to make sense of what she was saying, about what was going on. About anything. And then his eyes bugged out of their sockets.

Plagg's enormous head was filling the sky and slowly sinking downwards with it's mouth open and drooling.  
"PLAGG! DON'T!"

Adrien then realized as he slide down Plaggs mouth that he was trapped in an enormous wheel of chamembert cheese.

Adrien gasps as he sits up suddenly and bangs his head on an unfamiliar wall that is way too close to him. He winces and cries out as a loud yelp flies from the small kwamii sleeping on top of his head. Plagg hits the wall hard and lets out an indignant mew before flying back to Adrien.

"HEY! WAtch it!"  
"Plagg! Oh I'm so glad to see you!" Adrien says grabbing the small black mouse like animal and pulling him in for a hug making Plagg squirm in amazement before relaxing and hugging him back.  
"I'm glad that you're okay too. Not like I was worried or anything." Plagg said with a scoff. The two sat there and then Plagg began to purr and vibrate a little causing Adrien to pull back in wide eyed amazement.  
"Did you just Purr?"  
"No! And if you tell anyone that we know then I will deny it! And I'll sneak cheese into all of your clothes!" Plagg said bitterly before looking around with an anxious look to his large green globes.

Adrien chuckles as he frowns at Plagg,  
"You and your cheese. In fact that was in my dream..."  
"Yeah, I saw. Your dreams are starting to get incredibly strange, and specific. You might need to talk with someone about those." Adrien did a double take as he shimmied closer to Plagg with confusion.

"Wait you saw my dream? Plagg can you go into my dreams?"  
"I'm a Kwamii kid I can do anything!"  
"Including going into dreams?" Adrien asked skeptically as Plagg merely shrugged and hovered above him. Adrien didn't know if he bought it, but it would explain the ending of his dream a bit more...

He shivers in disgust. He really really really didn't want Plagg to be capable of going into his dreams. That was just...That was just a massive no.

"Plagg what even happened? Where are we? What's going on?" Adrien asked. Plagg shook his head in amazement.

"It's crazy Adrien! Everything went-"He hacked and coughed and rubbed at his throat as a large smelly green belch bubble flew out of his mouth and smacked the ceiling like it was some sort of hairball.

"Yeesh. Sorry about that. I guess that there are more restrictions to this then I first thought." Plagg snorts and shakes his head before opening his mouth. A long string of painful looking bubbles came pouring out of his mouth as he tried to think of something that would make sense. Finally the bubbles stopped frothing and he fell to the small cot Adrien was sleeping on in exhaustion.

Adrien took a second to process his surroundings. He was in a small wooden hut. Or a camper...A small wooden camper. He could see wheel wells, and there was an electric lantern hanging overhead. The rest of the camper was relatively empty. There was this small very painful cot that he was sleeping on that did not feel great, he was used to King sized beds with feather stuffing and a good mattress. This was something that a camper would use. There was a dresser bolted to the wall and the entire camper stunk of skunk and cabbages.

"Plagg? Where are we? Can you tell me that?"  
"The...circus..."Plagg managed to muscle out with a cough and cleared his throat.  
"The...The circus? Plagg I didn't...Did I run away and join the circus and not remember any of it?!" Adrien said jumping up and grabbing his hair in amazement.  
"Oh man! I am in so much trouble here Plagg! My father is going to lose his mind! Not to mention my bodyguard! And everyone else will-"

Plagg's laughing tore him out of his words and he glowered at the mischevious little fairy like creature.  
"What's so funny?"  
"Amnesia is a myth kid. And besides you still haven't noticed the-A small bubbly attack-THE OBVIOUS!" He spat out getting irritated by the constant interruptions.

Adrien looked at Plagg in confusion before glancing down at his hands. The entire world seemed to spin. He gripped his chest, his ears were popping and his chest was clenching. His eyes widened and he felt all of his muscles tighten up, as if he was about to run a hundred miles in thirty seconds.

"Okay. Calm down. Breathe. Breathe!" Plagg said nervously floating upwards and spinning around Adrien's head nervously twiddling his tiny paw stubs. "Can I get you some cheese? That should calm you down a little!" Adrien actually let out a little bit of laughter.  
"You know you mentioning Cheese makes it a little easier to take all of this...thank you..."Adrien began to breathe a little easier and glanced at the Kwamii.

"So if I lost the ring. Why are you still around? I thought that you would be out of here." Plagg glances down and thinks for a second.

"The person who has the ring is giving me a lot of liberty. They know that you would completely freak out if I wasn't here with you. But me and another friend of yours is here."

"Another friend? Who?" Adrien asked. The entire camper shook as someone knocked on the door with a determination that nearly knocked Adrien off of his backside. Adrien glanced around before losing track of Plagg.

"Look I don't see you but I hope that you are still here when I get back. Don't worry I'm sure that it will all be okay soon." Adrien said as soothingly as he could to the room. He stood up and opened the door to the frowning face of his bodyguard. The man looked stern for a second and then visibly relaxed. Adrien did a double take, he had never seen the man wearing anything besides his typical suit. Now the bodyguard was wearing a white muscle shirt, red suspenders and black pants with large leather work boots. His hair was shaved closer to his scalp, but it was definitely his bodyguard.

"OH! It's you! You're here too! That's great! Can you tell me what's going...on?" He called after the bodyguard as he turned on his heel and started walking into the camp of trailers, campers, tents and random people.

There was a large white tent set up with the smell of cooking coming from it. Adrien stared at it as he went past. A woman was eating with her feet holding the utensils, a man with a pierced scalp, and someone who was surrounded by multiple swords. Just to name a few. Adrien continued after his bodyguard as they walked further through the grounds. Adrien could spy a large ferris wheel, a familiar looking house of mirrors and many more attractions.

"The carnival...I was here just last night. Can you please tell me what's-" His bodyguard paused outside of another tent. This one had the sound of a razor going and the smell of steam from it. A short greasy looking man walked out and glanced him up and down with obvious distaste.

"Well what are you waiting for blondie?" The circus man said before taking his cigar out of his mouth and punching it towards the tent. "Get inside of there! We don't have all day to hold your hands!"

"I...my hands?" Adrien glanced at them before looking back at the short man with the shaved head.

"No your feet! Look we've got to nip this louse infestation in the butt before it gets out of hand! Now get in there!" He moved behind Adrien and started elbowing him in the back. Adrien took a few steps before glancing helplessly at his bodyguard.

"HEY! What's going on?!" Adrien demanded completely confused and starting to lose his temper.

"What are you asking The Gorilla for? He can't talk!" The short man chuckles wetly. Adrien stops and looks at the now embarased man.

"Wait...You can't talk?"  
"You didn't know? Jeeeeeez kid! How selfish are ya? Gorilla over there used to be in the underground fight rings, he took a few too many punches to the old throat of his and now any word coming out of his mouth causes him extreme agony!" The short ringmaster chuckled some more as The Gorilla glowers at him before walking up and placing a hand on Adrien's shoulder.

"I...I didn't know." Adrien said in amazement. He had known this man for years, seen him do...not a lot honestly. He mostly just drove him around. But he was consistent. He was a constant prescence in his life. To just learn now that he didn't talk because he couldn't as opposed to wouldn't...It was strange.

The Gorilla nods before they enter the tent. Someone bumps into Adrien as he enters. She looks at him scornfully for a moment. Her eyes were hazel and her head was shaved. But she looked to be about his age.  
"Sorry." Adrien apologized as he entered. He froze when he saw the razorblades, the scissors and all other sorts of cutting impliments.

"Oh...please...no..."He said desperately looking up at the Gorilla who merely sighed and nodded. "Please! I don't know what's going on! Or where I am! My father must be worried sick! I need to get home before-"

"Home ain't safe kid. Your pal explained it all to me last night. Your daddy sent you here to keep you hidden away and protected. The only way we can do that is by keeping your identity a secret. Thus the delousing." The short foul smelling man snuck up behind Adrien and ushered him into the wingback leather chair. Adrien glances at The Gorilla who looks forlorn but nods sadly.

"I-Please...Just not my-" He yelps as strong hands grip his shoulders and the razorblades start up loudly and insistently. He howls loudly enough for the entire circus to hear.

Hazel rolls her eyes as she listens.  
"God Newbies always act so possesive of their hair the first few months." She grumbles in disgust.

"Honey please let's just talk about this." Anarka said as gently as she could as she gestured for Juleka to come down from the crows nest. Juleka glances between her mom and her brother. She had the cellphone in her hand and glances down at the smashed radio. Her mom grins sheepishly before pointing to the wreckage.

"I am all for finding your classmate but let's just talk about how much money we can get off of this thing. And how the police industrial complex is over militarized and will probably just end up-"

Juleka tuned her mother out as she glances at Luka who simply nods. Do it. Juleka takes a deep breath and smiles sadly down at Anarka.

"Sorry mom." She mumbles as she dials in the number and holds the small cell phone to her ear. "Hello? Police?"

Across town in a small room that was shared between a girl and a god, a large scrap of fabric lays half cut, a pile of scrap books with half designs are leafed through. Marinette Dupain Cheng snorts in her sleep and rolls over before sitting up and wiping the drool off of her chin. She glances at the sleeping Tikki with a grin.

"Man! That was the best sleep that I've gotten in months! With a start like that today is going to be great!"

Across the town again in a small room that looks like a prison cell Kagami tosses her training sword onto the pile of others, she grabs a towel and wipes her glistening forehead with a frown. This was a bad practice. She had stumbled, and hesitated. And had been emotional. That meant that things were going to go poorly today. She could already feel it in her bones.

Something was horribly wrong.

**I own nothing. Not even this computer. Review.**


	5. Chapter 5

**I own nothing not even this computer. Review.**

Marinette walked down the stairs from her bedroom and paused as she glanced between her parents. Something was wrong. She could tell the way that they were glancing nervously at each other, and then at her. And they had rushed nervously around the room the moment that she had opened her trapdoor, she had heard them.

"Whats...going...on?" She asks suspiciously as they stare at her with nervous looks on their faces. Her good mood from this morning was rapidly disappearing. And a sinking feeling was growing in her gut.

"Marinette we just need you to promise to sit down and be calm because-"Tom began as he gently took his daughters shoulders in his massive trashcan lid sized hands and brought her gently to a kitchen chair.

"Mom? Dad? What is it?" Marinette says her throat growing dry. Sabine takes the remote to the tv and turns it back on and increases the volume. Gabriel Agreste is on the screen, he looks stern, almost terrifyingly stern. His eyes are hard as stone and his teeth are clenched.

"I just want him back. That is all I am asking. And I will burn down this city if I must to get him back." The image of Gabriel paused and fell into the back corner as the news reporter Nadja took up the screen and gestured to where the picture was with a sad look on her face, she could not entirely disguise the nervousness on her face. Which was weird to see as she was typically so professional.

"That just in from Gabriel Agreste founder and head designer of the Agreste fashion line. To all those tuning in at an undisclosed time early this morning or late last night a daring kidnapping was undertaken by parties unknown that resulted in the presumed abduction and disappearance of Adrien Agreste." Nadja paused as a photo of Adrien in one of his older modeling costumes popped on. It was a green and black beret with a black button up and green vest with shiny golden buttons. He was smiling disarmingly and innocently towards the camera with eyes slightly downcast.

Marinette felt her heart flutter, her jaw drop and then her heart stop all at once.

"Kidnapped?" She said shooting up out of her chair making it screech on the tile before tipping over. Tom reached out and hooked it and placed it back up before it could crash.

"Please be careful dear." He said before wincing. Now was really not the time to be making any snide remarks. There was a massive and very serious situation happening that they had to take care of.

"Kidnapped?" Marinette repeated glancing between her parents her mind racing a mile a minute. Her head felt light and she had to sit down before reaching out for her phone. She pulled up the news and saw that it was the number one thing trending. She scrolled through the articles rapidly before updating it again and again somehow expecting there to be an update in the thirty seconds that she had just woken up.

"I...who...what? How?" She said looking between her parents. This had not been the first time that Adrien Agreste had been kidnapped, the guy really did have terrible luck when it came down to akuma attacks, and that weird thing that happened with santa clause a few years ago. But this felt incredibly odd.

"Now honey just stay calm, there is a search party that is being put together, your mother and I are going to be leaving for it in a few hours. Unless you need us to stay here." He said quickly making sure that they were on eye level and trying to keep her as calm as possible. Marinette's eyes flit between the two of them. She felt like she was having a panci attack. She finally took a deep breath to calm down and shook her head.

"It's fine! Everything will be just fine! I'm fine!" She said clearly not fine at all.

"No new information has been released at all. Only that Adrien has disappeared and that a search is being put underway. I am positive that it can't just be a kidnapping." Tom said as comfortingly as he possibly could. "There has to be another explanation. And I am sure that we will find him shortly. Would you like to help us search. We know that you don't have university today and-"

"I actually...maybe I should stay here just to make sure that everything is alright." She said waving her hands and stimming a little bit before she smiled comfortingly at her parents. Her heart felt like it was doing a crazy dance in her chest. She had one thought going through her head over and over again.

'I have to transform. I have to find Adrien.'

"In fact...I think that I am sort of tired...maybe I should call it an early night." She said faking a yawn. Sabine quirked a confused and flabberghasted eyebrow.  
"Marinette it's almost ten in the morning." She said trying not to giggle. It was a strange feeling, here she was about to go searching for a kidnapped young man. But she couldn't help it! Her daughter could be so...silly sometimes. It was hard to take her seriously.

Marinette's mouth flapped before she blushed and made some wide gestures and weird noises as she retreated upstairs back to her bedroom and locked the door. She took a deep breath and glanced around rapidly. Tikki floated over to her with a nervous and slightly guilty look on her face. She clearly knew that something was up. But Marinette was far too distracted to care.

"We need to go find Adrien. He must be in trouble." Marinette said with a determined glint to her eye. She brushed her hair back and was preparing to shout at the top of her lungs when Tikki flew forwards and pressed a small nub of a hand to her owner's face.

"Ssh! Your parents are still here!" Tikki warned. Marinette clenched her lips closed and nodded as she began to pace in irritation. She didn't know how much longer she could wait though. She tapped her foot. Her stomach growled and she grabbed a cookie off of the plate that she kept in her room. Tikki looked on offended for a few seconds.

"Hey! Those are mine!" She said flying over and frowning at Marinette. "Not to mention it isn't healthy for a girl your age to be eating sweets so early in the morning. It will stunt your growth!"  
"Tikki it's called stress eating. Look it up." Marinette snapped back before her chewing grew more and more aggressive. "I just hope that Chat Noir has started the investigation without me. They are all probably wondering where the heroes are right now. This is definitely something we would look into."

Tikki shuts her mouth and continues to look guilty. She tried to look at anything besides Marinette. Sure Tikki knew the secret identity of the black cat miraculous holder. But it wasn't like she could just tell Marinette! That would be a massive breach of protocol! Plus she wasn't entirely sure if she was physically capable to do so!

"Yep...Totally...I'm sure that Chat Noir is taking care of everything!" Tikki said hoping that her lie wasn't that obvious. Marinette glances at the small mouse sized bug like creature and narrowed her eyes before flopping back in her swivel chair that she had had since she was a kid. It squeaked slightly and she grabbed another cookie before groaning.

"Shoot you're right. I doubt that that lazy cat has even gotten off of his tail to help." Marinette mumbled. She glances at her phone and then does a double take.

"Why would she be calling me?" Marinette said wondering if she should let it go to voicemail.

"Why should I call her?" Kagami mumbles to herself. SHe closes her eyes and breathes out through her nose trying to calm herself down. She picks up her phone and looks at the few numbers that she had. She glances at the wall sized television screen in her living room. The only news channel that was on was the local one. And the only interesting thing that they were talking about was Adrien Agreste. A large number of people were gathering in the streets and walking in straight lines, or being organized into search parties. The police and fire department were arguing trying to decide who should be in charge.

Kagami shakes her head. The authorities were never any help. If any work was going to get done then she would have to do it herself. She would be the one to find Adrien Agreste. She was sure of it.

The only problem now was that she had no idea where to start or how to go about it. She taps her chin with the tip of her fingers. There is a crazy blonde young woman on the television screen screeching at a police officer now. Kagami mutes the sound and closes her eyes going into a meditiation mode that she had been taught back when she was a child in order to help her focus on her studies and her training.

She had not used the trick for many many years. She had to weigh all of her options and choose the one that made the most sense. And would benefit her the most. And would bring about the preffered ending the quickest. And the preferred ending was obvious.

She blushes and shakes her head. Trying to get the image of her and Adrien cuddling on the top of the eifel tower out of her mind. That was definitely the preferred ending but not the most realistic one.

She had to think this through, be much more rational and focus. Then she blushed an even darker red when she imagined herself cuddling with Marinette Dupain Cheng on the top of the Eifel tower as stars lit up the night sky.

"What is going on with my mind today? Focus!" She shouted to the empty room before finally sighing. She only had the two friends, and one had been kidnapped. Which meant that it would make sense if she got help from the other one.

She dialed the number and waited for a few seconds.

"Hello? Kagami?" Marinette said nervously as she picked up the phone. Kagami's tone was to the point and brief.

"Put on some reasonable shoes. I will be over in a few minutes with the car to pick you up. We are going to find Adrien." She hung up and stood up before she could change her mind. She walked authoratatively to her garage and slide into her car before typing in the coordinates. Self driving cars were so cool, she never needed a driver like Adrien. She paused and pulled out her phone with a frown before going through all of the footage on the way to Marinette Dupain Cheng's bakery.

"Strange." Kagami mumbles, there was not a single news feed with Adrien's bodyguard/driver in it. Plenty of Adrien's father and secretary...but not of the driver. How strange. Perhaps Marinette would be able to give a unique look at it. The young woman had a unique brain, and could see things that Kagami would never even think of. That was one of the many reasons why she enjoyed her so much.

"Okay...Looks like I'm going Adrien hunting with Kagami now." Marinette said putting her phone down before glancing at Tikki who only shrugged in response. "Is that weird? She just sort of came out of nowhere and told me to be ready soon. And to wear good shoes? What does that even mean?"

"It probably means that you're still in your PJ's and are going outside super soon." Tikki said gesturing at Marinette's pants and top. Marinette glances down and groans in irritation.  
"Look at it this way, you are still searching for Adrien!" Tikki said as helpfully as she could as she began floating cookies into Marinette's tiny purse in anticipation of being shut up in it for the forseeable future.

"Yeah but I'm not using all of my powers and resources." Marinette mumbles as she pulls on her favorite outfit and a pair of sensible running shoes. She picks up her purse, unlocks her trap door and hurries down to the street, she spots the red limo immediately and waves as it pulls over beside her. Her parents had already left and she had to relock the door behind her.

"So you say that you just dragged it up out of the river last night and have been pulling up more and more pieces all day?" The police officer asked Luka who nodded and shot his mom a warning glance. Anarka's arms were folded as she scowled at the 'Capitalist pig' (Her words) who had stormed her boat house asking questions.

Luk and Juleka had come to the conclusion that since they didn't want their mom to go to jail for obstructing justice and tampering with evidence had agreed that they had been fishing up pieces of the car since last night and just realized whose car it was. It was the only way that they thought they would be able to get away with it. Anarka had very very grudgingly gone along with it.

"She is the one who realized whose car it was, she knows Adrien personally." Luka said taking his siters shoulders gently and pushing her forwards. The officer turned to Juleka who instantly froze up nervously.

"Is this true miss?"  
"Well...mmhmhm." She mumbles looking down. She actually sort of regretted calling the cops now. She didn't think that she would have to give a statement of all things.

**I own nothing not even this computer.**


	6. Chapter 6

**I own nothing not even this computer. Review.**

"They never mention the elephant poop." Adrien said in distress as he looked at the enormous pile of elephant poop in front of him. He shook his head, he couldn't just talk to himself or else people would think that he was crazy. But he was just so used to talking to Plagg all of the time that it was hard not to just start talking to thin air.

Adrien sighs as picks up a shovel and walks forwards. He grumbles to himself along the way.

"Whenever people talk about running away to join the circus they never mention having to scoop up elephant poop. There is so much elephant poop here. I already hate this." He held his nose with one hand at the stench and tried to move forwards. The elephant let out a loud bellow and he took a few steps backwards nervously.

"These things are much bigger up close."

"And you're doing it all wrong." A voice calls from behind him. Adrien turns with a nervous look on his face. He is wearing new clothes that feel weird, cheap baggy jeans and a black sweat shirt and a red baseball cap. His new haircut feels even weirder, it is shaved down to his scalp and he feels like everyone is staring at it.

The girl walking towards him is tall and has a big frown on her face and sharp eyes. Her head is similarily shaved like his and he wonders if there is only one barber in the circus.  
"I'm doing what wrong?" He said as she yanked the shovel out of his hands and walked back a few steps he followed afterwards. Her arms were coated in strong muscles.  
"This. All of this. Let me see your hands." She says snapping her fingers. He isn't sure what to do or say so he just holds out his hands. She grabs them before turning them over one way and then another shaking her head in disgust. She spits on the ground and frowns even deeper.

"Just what I thought, you've never done a hard days work in your life have you? What did Tommy just point you in this direction and tell you to muck out the elephants?"  
"Yes actually, word for word that's what the short greasy man told me." Adrien said trying not to be intimidated. He had a headache and didn't know why he was still standing in the circus. He felt out of place and confused. Plagg had told him to be patient and to stick around and wait...But he didn't know how much longer he could!

Then he felt where his ring should be and he knew that he would have to stay.  
"Well I can tell that he didn't check out your hands. What is that a manicure? And they're way too soft. Grab those gloves hanging over there before you hurt yourself." She said gesturing gruffly to a nearby fence post that had some thick leather gloves. Adrien trottered over to them and picked them up. He glances back to where the girl is standing.

"Aren't you going to wear any?" He asks as she snorts and shakes her head in disgust.  
"What are you nuts? I'm plenty strong and tough." She says flexing her arm, he could see that she had thick callouses on her hands, and a few popped blisters he didn't doubt that she was tough but it still seemed a bit extreme to just pick up a shovel without hand protection.

"Okay first off you approached them from behind that's your first mistake, if they got spooked they would have trampeled you. You also need a bucket. So go and grab that bucket." She said pointing towards a nearby bucket. Adrien looked at it and then looked at the woman, that bucket did not seem remotely big enough for all of the elephant poop.

Hours later Adrien realized that he had been right. It was nowhere large enough. The woman kept on snapping her fingers at him, making him run faster, or bend with his knees, or take over with the shovel, then she would get angry with how he shoveled and she would demonstrate again and again how he was supposed to do it.

Adrien sighed when it was finally over and sat on the grass with a massive sigh.

"What are you doing? Get up? There's more stuff to do." The woman snapped and gestured for him to stand.  
"Can't we take a break? Just for a second? I think that I might die if I keep on working." Adrien complained. She glowered down at him before sighing and sitting down beside him.

"You are really not cut out for this job are you?" She said shaking her head and continued to glower off in the distance. Adrien frowned in response, sure he might have had a bit of a slow start but that was no reason to be rude about it!

"Oh and you are? What were you born here or something?"  
"Yes actually." She said with a smirk. "Born and raised. I'm a circus brat. Names Hazel."

"Oh...well I'm-"  
"I know who you are blondie. And I don't really care. You will get your circus name in time. Just be patient." She said before tapping her foot for a few seconds. She stood up and offered her hand this time. "Come on breaks over. Back to work."

"Circus name?" Adrien asked in confusion.

Many many hours later Adrien walked in from an outdoor shower, shivering from the cold water that still beaded his skin. He glances around the small caravan that he and the Gorilla were sharing. He grabs his clothes and pulls them on before falling onto the cot in delight.  
"Adrien?" Plagg asks poking his head out from behind a small opening in the wall of the trailer.  
"Plagg!" Adrien cried out before the small black cat like creature flew to him and they bumped foreheads. "Man is it good to see you!" Adrien said in delight before wincing and twisting and gripping his lower back.

"OW! Okay that hurt, wow." He grumbles as Plagg floats in front of him in concern.  
"Wow you look awful, what have they been putting you through?"  
"Just chores so far, cleaning up elephant poop, cleaning up horse poop, cleaning cars. It's weird. I don't think that I've ever been this exhausted in my entire life and I don't get why! I'm a superhero for crying out loud! I sprint across the rooftops and jump twenty stories!"  
"Adrien...dude...you are doing actual hard back breaking labor without my help, what did you think would happen? This isn't piano practice, this isn't fencing with their fancy rules. The only rule of circus life is survive while doing back breaking manual labor that is probably super illegal surrounded by dangerous machinery and animals."

"And jerks." Adrien grumbles before shaking his head. "There is this one girl here named Hazel. She is just the worst! I don't want to be mean or anything but she is just so rude! I can't stand it! I tried to be nice to her all day but it seems like she is refusing everything! I don't know what to do!" Adrien said before pointing to his head.

"And this isn't exactly all that great either. I'm surprised that you didn't mention it yet." Plagg snickers and shakes his paw before floating up and rubbing Adrien's dome.  
"I was getting to it. I was just coming up with a joke that would be funny and somehow cheese related. But I've got nothing. It looks really really stupid."  
"I just don't get why they would need to shave my head for lice, why not just use a spray?" Plagg winces at that, he knows exactly why, but he can't say a thing, his holder the Gorilla had forbidden it, and if there was one thing that a kwamii can't do it is to diobey a direct order from a holder.

"Meh who knows, humans are weird right?" The two heard a squeaking from the door to the trailer. Plagg exchanged a nervously look with Adrien before flying back to his hiding spot.  
"And speaking of weird! Good luck kid!" Plagg called as encouragingly as he could from where he was now hiding. Adrien turned and watched as the Gorilla opened up the door, fumbled for a second and managed to hook his thumb in and then slip inside. He was carrying two large platters with him covered with napkins.

The gorilla looked stiffly at Adrien and then down at his hands and then towards the table. The gorilla walked over to the table and set down the two large platters before removing the napkins and revealing the mountains of food that were underneath. Adrien grinned and rushed over only to be stopped when the Gorilla held up his large trash can lid sized palm.

He glanced down at Adrien's hands and then rubbed his own together.

Adrien looks at his hands in confusion before glancing back at The Gorilla and sighing.  
"You're serious?"

"NINO! SERIOUSLY! SLOW DOWN!" Alya yelped at the top of her lungs as she pedaled her bike as fast as she could after the young man. He was standing on his bike, pedaling like a mad man down the streets, turning corners too fast and glancing around like he had bees in his head.  
"I can't! I need to find him!" Nino shouts over his shoulder. Alya manages to just get behind him at the next corner, she huffs and pants and yelps before breaking having almost collided with Nino who had stopped at a dead end alley way.

Nino growls and picks his bike up to turn it around. Alya took the opportunity to jump off of her bike and grab his handlebars and slam the bike wheel back onto the pavement.

"Nino! Wait!" His head shot up, they were blushing, red faced, breathing heavily, their hair was curling and sweaty against their faces. Their glasses were fogged up and they were both out of breath.

"I can't. I need to find him Alya." Nino said desperately. She held up her finger warningly.  
"Nino at the rate you're going you are going to hit someone. Or hurt yourself. Or burn yourself out. Or do all three all at once. And I am not letting that happen." She said snapping her fingers and frowning.

Nino's mouth flapped helplessly before he closed his eyes and slumped.  
"Fine. Whatever you beat me. We can stop for the day." He grumbles. Alya quirks an eyebrow in confusion.  
"What are you talking about? We're nowhere close to being done today! We just need to be calm and think this entire thing through. I don't want you to get lost while looking for Adrien!"  
"Adrien isn't lost though. You heard the news babe. The chances that he just ran away...I mean...His home life is pretty crappy, but I don't think that he would just ditch us without telling anyone." Alya smiles as sweetly and gently as she could, taking her boyfriends chin in her hand and tilting it up so that she could kiss his sweaty cheek and give him a peck on the lips.

"I know that this is scary babe. But trust me. We are going to find Adrien. He has one of the most recognizable faces in the world. There is no way that he could just disappear. I know you're concerned but let's think this through okay?"

Nino chuckles before taking her hand in his.  
"It's funny you know? You giving me a pep talk about slowing down and thinking?" Alya frowns and pouts.  
"And what's that suposed to mean smart guy?" She snaps which just makes Nino chuckle even harder. Alya frowns and then calms herself down.  
"We know where everyone else is searching right now. We know where Adrien normally hangs out. Let's try to think of something outside of the box before we start running around like a pair of chickens with their heads cut off okay?" Alya said before turning her bike around and letting her boyfriend out of the alley.

"We need to think outside the box here." Marinette said pouring over the map with Kagami. There were multiple circles all around the map, of the city, of the countryside. And if she wasn't mistaken of airports.

"That's why I called you. You jump in and out of the sanity box all the time. It should be easy for you to come up with something." Kagami said. Marinette does a double take before realizing that it was meant as a weird sort of compliment. Marinette rubs her eyes. This was going to take a while, and she really really really wished that she could escape and transform into Ladybug. That might actually be useful.

She would just have to wait and see. But she knew that she could at least try to find Adrien with Kagami. Marinette knew that if there was one thing that could track Adrien down it would be the power of love! Or the power of two girls who were crushing pretty hard on the same cute guy. And who had a car. And a map. And a secret super duper powerful god of creation.

**I own nothing not even this computer. More reviews more chapters**


	7. Chapter 7

**Review. I own nothing. Not even this computer.**

Nino pokes at his sandwich. He sighs and pulls out a leaf of lettuce before chewing on it in disinterest. Alya has half of her sandwich already eaten and she is a slow eater. Nino had taken maybe two bites.

Alya sighs before leaning the side of her head against his shoulder. Their feet were kicking at the canal, the water flowing by the soles of their shoes. Their bikes were leaning next to each other just a little ways away. Alya glances at Nino out of the corner of her eyes. He does not say a single thing.

"You're worried about him aren't you?" Alya says gently prodding at her boyfriend. He nods keeping his mouth shut firmly. His eyes look full of tears that are ready to fall.  
"This isn't the first time you know that this has-" Nino cuts her off shaking his head.

"He always texts me. Whenever his old man gets to be too much and he has to run out, or whatever. Hide for a few days...He texts me. He lets me know whats going on. What's up. He's like my best friend Alya. And he hasn't texted me. Not even once. It's only been a day and a few hours but..." Alya nods knowingly. A lot can happen in a day. Countries can fall in a day. And young men can be kidnapped sealed in an oil drum and shipped half way around the world to some scummy mans secret murder and torture cabin deep in the woods where no one can find you.

"We will find him. But we're not going to get anywhere if you fall over from exhaustion or hunger." Alya presses the bottom of his sandwich towards Nino's mouth forcing a little bit in between his lips. "Eat. It will make you feel better."

Nino took a chunk and chewed for a few seconds. He increased his speed when she glowered at him and soon he had polished off the entire sandwich. Alya nods in satisfaction before she takes a big bite of her own sandwich. The two sit side by side watching the water flow past. They could see a small group of people walking down the street some were holding flashlights as the day slowly transitioned into evening.

"Oh man! My parents! They are going to be freaking out right now!" Alya said fishing her phone out of her pocket and starting to tap furiously explaining to her parents where she had been and why. Although they had also been out all day searching and could probably understand their daughters fear and reasoning.

"We should get home right? I mean what else are we supposed to do? How are the two of us going to help?" Nino said bitterly as he stood up. Alya looked at him in confusion before standing up herself.  
"Hey. Don't be so hard on yourself. I'm sure that the two of us searching is helping some-" She was cut off again when her phone gave a little beep and a news feed popped up. Alya followed all major news networks with an obsessive amount of attention. She raised one perfectly maintained eyebrow and clicked on the video with the mayor of Paris standing with a long line of police officers behind him.

"And just to be clear we want all children within the age range of seventeen to three indoors. That is correct, a curfew! It is in my expert opinion that with the streets clear then the police officers and adults can actually do their jobs without any sort of interference!" The mayor said with a wide grin that did not look at all real.

"Well isn't that just great." Nino mumbles rubbing his eyes. "Of all the things that they could do. And at all times." Nino mumbles as Alya wraps her arms around him.

"Hey. Calm down. It will all be okay. We might not be able to find him tonight. But we will find him. We will go out searching first thing tomorrow after class okay?" Alya gave him a calming rub to his lower back. Nino rested his hands on her hips and rested his chin on the top of her head before breathing out.

"Okay. I'm just so worried. I just can't imagine what is happening to him right now. I just hope that they're not hurting him .That they're not starving him. Or worse." Nino says as the two walk hand in hand to their bikes and bike back to their homes.

"Wow. This is...pretty good!" Adrien said forcing a smile as he chewed on another long thick piece of bread. It was burnt and soggy from all of the gravy, and he had no idea what sort of dish this was even supposed to be. But he chewed it up anyway and did it all with a smile on his face.

The gorilla's frown deepened. He knew that Adrien did not like this food. It was too rough, too uncultered for the upper upper class boys fine tongue. The Gorilla knew, he had been the one that cooked all of the meals at the mansion before the two of them had to go on the run. Gabriel had been too cheap to hire another chef so the Gorilla had taken over. It had taken him a long time to figure out how to actually cook anything and most of his cooking for the first few years was just take out from a near by hotel made by a Mrs. Cesaire. However he took a few classes and eventually got the hang of it. He had been doing the cooking ever since for everyone in the mansion, he wondered just who Gabriel and Nathalie had hired to take care of the meals afterwards?

And the Gorilla knew, that this was not fine food. This was good cheap food. It filled you up and gave you fuel and energy. But it was not a delight for the senses. Still better then when he had been stationed in Russia and had to survive off of wood chips and rancid meat.

Adrien chewed a bit more before swallowing. He winces and taps his foot. He had not had a meal with another person for a very long time. He was used to sitting alone and in silence, sometimes he would talk to Plagg, but he never listened to music. Or read a book. He might study a little but that was all he was permitted to do.

He felt like he had to speak, that he had to say something.  
"So it's not safe for me to go home right?" He asked tentatively. The bigger man looked up and nodded slowly.  
"I know that I'm in danger. But is my father okay?" The Gorilla took a deep breath his face stoic, nodded his head.  
"When can I go home, when can I grow my hair out again? And why are you the one protecting me if-" Adrien cut himself off as The Gorilla's face twisted up. He grimaced and Adrien instantly flinched, expecting some sort of outburst some sort of comment about how he shouldn't speak unless spoken too. But the Gorilla opened his mouth and tried to make a noise.

"-" Went the Gorilla before wincing and clutching his throat. He tried again but still nothing came out.

"Are you okay?" Adrien asked as The Gorilla nodded and rubbed his throat and chest.  
"Does it hurt to talk?" Adrien asks pointing towards the Gorilla's throat. The Gorilla nodded and leaned back, the two of them looked around themselves trying to think of some way to actually hold a conversation. But neither had their cell phones, and there wasn't even a piece of paper in the small trailer. Adrien felt like he was playing twenty questions with a mute. Which he sort of was.

"Can you talk?" Adrien asked. The Gorilla pondered the question for a moment before nodding and then shaking his head before holding his hand up and wiggling it.  
"Sort of." Adrien nodded understanding. "But it hurts. Why?"

Adrien winced he should keep it to yes or no questions that was going to be the only way to make this conversation flow smoothly. The Gorilla did not even seem to flinch. Instead he held his knife up and pressed it to his throat before pulling it off and mimed stabbing himself in the throat. He then placed it down and balled his massive hand into a fist and slammed it into his free palm a few times before tapping his bare knuckles against his throat. He made a gun out of his fingers and pressed it to the side of his neck and mimed pulling the trigger. And he finished it all off by wrapping his hands around his throat and sticking his tongue out and bugged his eyes out.

Adrien sat back in surprise as he tried to get all of the images straight in his mind.  
"So...Just to be clear... You were shot, stabbed, punched and strangled so much that it now hurts to talk? How are you even alive if all of that happened?" The Gorilla held up one of his arms, it was the size of a tree trunk. He made a muscle and his throat muscles stood out. He slapped his bicep in delight and smirked.

"I didn't think that anyone could be that strong." Adrien raised an eyebrow before The Gorilla poked himself in the chest. Adrien chuckled. It was ridiculous but it was amazing. "What were you before a bodyguard? A circus strongman? A super solider? A secret agent?"

The Gorilla grinned and nodded once curtly. Adrien's eyes widened. Then he snickered and then he burst out into laughter. It was ridiculous! Utterly Ridiculous! To picture his driver, his bodyguard, a man who he regularily fought when they were superheroes...Being any of those things!

The Gorilla's mouth popped open and quick little breathless gasps popped out. It took Adrien a few seconds to realize that he was actually laughing. Adrien wiped away some tears and took another bite of his meal. He sighed and looked at his hand. He felt so naked without the ring. So open and vulnerable.

The Gorilla continued to chew his food and glanced out the window of the trailer. It was getting dark, the circus was not to be moved for a few days. So said the ringmaster, they would eventually pick up stakes and get on the road. The Gorilla hoped that they would be able to sneak unnoticed out of the country and then maybe catch a boat to some other country. Make it across the Atlantic. Or go the other way and head towards Japan. Any country would be safer then here.

He saw Adrien glance at his ring finger and winced. He wanted to give the ring back, it was not his to take. But he also knew that if Adrien took it back then he would transform and be far away within a few seconds. Probably to check up on his father and friends and to make sure that no one was worried about him. It was the boy's biggest weakness, how much he cared for people. And one of his greatest strengths.

The Gorilla stood up and stretched. Adrien watched wide eyed as The Gorilla picked up a kettlebell from the corner of the room and begin to casually do bicep curls while at the table and still eating. The Gorilla noticed him staring and set the large solid metal bell down beside Adrien's feet. Adrien leaned over and took it in one hand, he tried to lift it once and winced. He frowned and strained before wrapping both hands around it and straining with the effort lifted it one inch off the floor. He gasped and let it drop.

He leaned back and gasped for air shaking his head. His arms lined with sweat. His blisters from the elephant poop shovel were blazing with pain. The Gorilla frowned before chuckling again.  
"Do you think you could help me? Teach me how to get stronger?" Adrien asks hopefully his eyes wide and searching. The Gorilla ponders it for a second before sniffing and nodding his head. His frown back. Those blisters on Adrien's hands were no joke. He would have to find the young man something for them, some sort of medicine. The Gorilla never developed blisters, his skin was too thick, even when he was young. It was a useful adaptation in his line of business.

Adrien grins. Sure he might be trapped at a circus against his will with a lot of crazy people that he doesn't know and a few of them might even be downright hostile. But he had The Gorilla here. And Plagg was hiding somewhere too.

Things really couldn't be all that bad.

A few hours later Adrien was laying on his cot staring at the ceiling. The cot was very very different from the extra large king sized bed that he had at home. He sighs and glances around the room. He is uncomfortable. He misses home and his family, or his father at least...sort of...It takes him a few seconds to realize that he hardly ever sees Gabriel. That his father is normally busy or shut up somewhere. In fact this is nothing knew. He once went two weeks without seeing his father and they lived in the same house!

Adrien rolled over and tried to figure out what this weird burning in his throat and chest was. Probably just a bit of heart burn, the food that they served was really just disgusting...But it felt deeper. He felt...lonely...

"I miss my friends." Adrien grumbles as Plagg floats above him with a frown.  
"Hey! What am I? Chopped liver?" Plagg complains as Adrien shushes him.

"Nathalie...what is...this?" Gabriel asks as he picks up the sad soggy slice of greasy pizza that sat on his fine plate. There was a small pile of something wet and red and gross congealing next to it.  
"I'm sorry sir. But that was all that we had...chopped liver...So I...ordered...a...pizza..." She said rubbing the back of her head. In her defense Gabriel had never once expected her to cook for him! And she had always been served delicious food while she worked at this place! She had never bothered to practice her cooking.

Gabriel picked up a piece of chopped liver and sighed in disgust. They would need a new chef. And a new maid. His socks were not pressed and he had a sinking feeling as to why...

"Could this get even worse? Or humiliating." Gabriel grumbles in disgust. Wondering when this thorn in his side will be plucked. And how he would be doing the plucking.

**Review. I own nothing not even this computer.**


	8. Chapter 8

**I own nothing not even this computer. Review.**

"Well this was a waste of time." Kagami said as they stood at the edge of the city. Marinette shivers rubbing her shoulders. It was freezing, but Kagami was still standing there and gazing over dramatically off into the distance as if she could actually see something.

"I'm sorry that I couldn't be more help." Marinette said as Kagami turned with a sigh and placed a hand on her friends shoulder.  
"As you should be."

"Hey!" Marinette protested with a growl as Kagami walked back to her automatic car. "It's not my fault that there doesn't seem to be any leads, or clues, or much of anything to go off of! I'm trying to help but this isn't like in the movies! There are no clues! And two cute quirky girls aren't going to be able to understand something that is giving the police trouble!"

Kagami paused to protest but nodded in understanding.  
"You're right. I was stupid to think that the two of us could do this." Kagami closed her eyes and leaned her head against the top of her limo. Marinette paused and looked at her friends firm shoulders. Because even though she was weird and off putting and very hostile and cold, she was still a friend of hers. And Marinette would not want to hurt any of her friends. Even one like Kagami.

"Hey...I'm sorry." Marinette said touching Kagami's shoulder. Kagami stiffened as if she expected to be hit but instead only a gentle petting sensation came. She did not relax and soon Marinette pulled her hand away. Kagami pouted a little, that petting had felt...nice...

"We can only try to look for him when we have free time. We will try our best but I think that the professionals might be our best bet." Marinette said gently. Kagami nods again before opening the door and offering it to Marinette. The two climbed in and Kagami set the car to drive Marinette back to her house.

"I know that we are rivals and that we both want Adrien for ourselves." Kagami said bluntly. Marinette gulped and flinched instinctively. She had never really liked putting it into words but Kagami had a good point. The two of them were rivals and they were fighting over the same boy. It might seem dumb to stay friends with a rival but Marinette had just stumbled into it. In fact that was the story of her life.

"But I would like to go looking for him tomorrow with you. If you are available." Kagami spoke formally and Marinette felt as if she was getting asked out on a date. She felt her heart go bump bump against her rib cage and she gulps and blushes.  
"I-I-I-I s-sure...we can hunt gettoher! I mean! Look together! We will find her. HIM! We will find Adrien!" She shook her head. Why was she stuttering over her words? It was just Kagami. Kagami nods and smiles gently at Marinette, a genuine smile that was rare to see on the young fencing prodigy's face.

"Thank you, I enjoy it when we are together." Kagami said as the car continued to drive down the streets. Marinette taps her foot as Kagami pulls out a few papers and starts to sort through them. She hands a small pile to Marinette expectantly.

"Go through those. You know Adrien's schedule right?" Marinette blushes and starts to flip through them, they were all there, all correct. Kagami pressed a button on the seat between the two of them and a small screen lit up in the headrest ahead of them. Marinette blinks and wonders just how expensive this car is. If she had to guess it was probably worth a lot more then her house.

She presses the screen in wonder before yelping and pulling her finger away. There was a picture of Adrien.  
"What...how did you?" Marinette looks in amazement and growing anxiety as she realized that it was a recording. It showed Adrien working out and then moving through warm ups before finally getting on fencing gear.

"I have access to a few video cameras around the city. I took the liberty of mapping out Adrien's typical schedule. I think that it would be prudent for you yo go through the footage and see if you spot anything or anyone out of the ordinary." Marinette balks before she gulps and blushes. She had caught a glimpse of herself in one of the videos, looking in on him as he was busy working out in the mens locker room. She had been walking past, watching his strong muscles and powerful looking hair...And then she had proceeded to face plant right in the hallway in front of everyone. The pigtailed girl groaned and rubbed her face in time with her video recording.

"Well that was embarrassing." MArinette grumbles out before glancing over at Kagami who had snickered before regaining her composure. Marinette frowns before she scrolled through more of the videos. There really wasn't anything of interest. Just Adrien. Adrien walking to and from his limo, going from appointment to appointment. Moving from place to place.

Marinette didn't see him talk to anyone new, she didn't see him go anywhere new. He didn't even try to run off like he typically did. It was just Adrien living his average sheltered day to day life! Nothing interesting there!

"He really only saw the people from school and his immediate family. There isn't anything different-" Marinette caught something. She could feel it at the back of her mind like a fishhook. She closes her eyes and waits for it to come again.

Kagami paused in her notes ruffling and stared expectantly at Marinette. Kagami's eyes were wide and expectant and hopeful. Marinette's were tight and closed as she worked it over. She opened them again and stared at the video, she felt like it was turning into black and white or shades of gray. Then she saw Adrien and he seemed to light up a bright pink with white polka dots. Then she saw his limo and that turned into an equally bright color.

"Where are you?" Marinette said before turning to Kagami. "Do you have access to the news from here?"

Kagami nods and starts to pull out her phone before typing a few instructions and soon the screens were switched from information about Adrien to pictures of his house, to news reporters talking, to pictures of Gabriel Agreste and others. Marinette scanned every news article frantically. Her eyes narrowed, she paused for a second when she noticed Sabine and Tom in the background of one shot and Gabriel Agreste thanking the many volunteers who had showed up to assist in the search and rescue mission for Adrien.

Marinette hums and then shakes her head.

"That is really odd."  
"What is?" Kagami demands her well manicured hand on Marinette's shoulder, pressing her on. Marinette could feel the callouses on the girls finger tips, it was impressive with how dainty she was.

"Well...where is his bodyguard?" Kagami did a double take before leaning back and raising an eyebrow.  
"Really? You are focusing on him right now?"  
"Well...yeah. I mean look at all of his pictures. Look at all of the videos. That man is Adrien's driver, he has been around Adrien for years! Every time he goes to school every time that he goes to a photo shoot, every time that he is moving anywhere it is because of the driver! He is clearly a pretty big part of his life...and now he's just...poof...gone." Marinette gestures to the news feed.

"It isn't much but it's something. I have never once seen the man speak, I have never once seen the man do anything without direct orders from Adrien or his father. So why would he just be gone? Why isn't he on the front lines right now?" Kagami considers Marinettes words before shaking her head.

"He could have been terminated since he was only hired to protect Adrien, now that Adrien is missing there would be no reason to keep him around."

"That or he was taken along with Adrien." Kagami frowns and shakes her head.  
"That man is the size of an actual gorilla, who could have been able to take him on in a fair fight?"  
"Unless it wasn't a fair fight." Marinette said insistently. "Look I know it might be a long shot but I think he might have something to do with this too."

Kagami frowns before tapping her chin with her finger.  
"Maybe. I will think about it. We will talk more tomorrow after you get out of school and we look some more." Marinette blinks before grinning.

"Right! Oh man I totally forgot about school. Do you think I should just skip it? It would give us more time to search." Kagami shakes her head.  
"In times of stress and emergency it is best to continue doing your typical routines. You should not disrupt your learning just because Adrien is missing. It is the only way we will be able to find him."

Marinette nods, she thinks that it is a little extreme and a little snooty but she understands. The limo came to a sudden stop in front of her house and Marinette climbs out before leaning back in to face Kagami.

"Hey. We will find him." Kagami looks at the small half Asian half French girl and nods. The two leave it at that as the car pulls away. Marinette walks inside and grabs a late lunch/early dinner from assorted pastry's that were left in the shop window. Her mom and Dad would scold her about proper diet and how she can't eat carbs and bread for every meal, but she needed some comfort food.

Tikki popped out of Marinette's bag with a concerned look on her face.  
"Marinette are you going to be okay?" Tikki asks as Marinette walks up the stairs and sighs in distraction.  
"I'm just worried. That's all. We combed this entire city! Everyone is out looking for Adrien! And we've found nothing! Not a single hair. Not a single scrap of cloth! Not a single..."Marinette did not say the words blood but she could still think them. When someone goes missing and no ransom letter is found then there is a very very low chance of ever finding them. And Marinette was worried that they wouldn't find him. Ever.

She sat down on a chair and rested her head in her hands. Breathing heavily as her face grew red from worry and anxiety. She felt tears start to prickle at the very back of her eyes and she rubbed at them with irritation. She snorts and a bit of snot bubbles up that she wipes away before pulling a disgusted face.  
"God I am such a mess."

"No. You are worried about your friend." Tikki said as she sat on Marinette's outstretched palms and looked up. "And that is nothing to be ashamed of."

Marinette smiles and presses her forehead against Tikki's large bloated head.  
"Thanks Tikki, I needed to hear that." Marinette said before glancing around. She reaches for her phone and quickly texts her parents.

"Going to Alya's. BRB." Marinette texted before standing up and throwing her shoulders back. "Come on Tikki, Marinette and Kagami and the entire forces of Paris might not have been able to find Adrien Agreste. But I know someone who just might be able to." Tikki nods as the room fills with a golden light and Marinette was replaced by Ladybug.

Ladybug sprints for the window and jumps out, tossing her yoyo to a nearby statue before spinning through the air. Ladybug lands on a nearby rooftop and presses a button on her yoyo phone.

"Come on kitty. We've got work to do." Ladybug mutters as she taps her foot waiting for Chat Noir to answer. She could see the lights of the carnival out in the distance. The circus had come to town a while back and had made itself comfortable at the edge of town. She purses her lips and wonders if maybe...just maybe...

Plagg hiccuped on top of Adrien's head before vibrating. He grumbles and rubs her aching eyes. Someone was trying to call Chat Noir. But unfortunately that wouldn't work if they weren't transformed which meant that Plagg was just going to be getting one hell of a headache for a while. He grumbles and tries to ignore the call and go back to sleep on top of Adrien's surprisingly warm and comfortable head.

**Review. I own nothing not even this computer.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Review. I own nothing. Not even this computer.**

Ladybug lands easily on the roof and sprints through the darkness. She glances left and right before finally coming to a stop right above the small alleyway. She sighs and leans against the edge of the roof. She pulls out her yoyo and checks her messages. Still nothing from Chat Noir. She grinds her teeth together. That lazy kitty was probably somewhere licking the back of his hand and sipping on a big glass of milk.

She assaumed. He really did tend to take the entire cat persona thing a bit too far. It was downright creepy sometimes. It was also adorable but still creepy. She sighs and jumps from the roof and lands on the ground before glancing around and sprinting across the empty street. It seemed like there was a curfew in affect. No one was allowed out, no one was allowed to be on the streets, except for a few police officers. But once they had seen her they had only nodded and waved her on. They knew who she was and what she was probably doing. The police trusted her, she did tend to solve a lot of their problems for them. She didn't blame them for not being able to deal with all of the problems. After all it wasn't as if they were superheros or anything.

She comes to a skidding stop in front of the gates to the Agreste household. She glances at the front gate and easily jumps over it, the rush of adrenaline in her veins makes her feel like she could tear the entire world apart. She lands easily and walks casually towards the front door.

A light flashes on and she turns around in a tight circle with her hands up ready to fight.

"Ah. Ladybug. We expected you to arrive sooner." A voice called out from the top of the steps. Ladybug turned and nodded towards the secretary of the Agreste household. Nathalie stood there with her back straight and her hands folded behind her. She looked every inch the stern faced hard nosed disciplinarian. She nodded to Ladybug and opened the door to let her in.

"although I am not entirely sure what help you will be in this matter." Nathalie said snidely as Ladybug passed her. Ladybug shivered, she had never gotten such a cold reception from the woman, sure she knew that Nathalie could be cool and controlling, just like most of the Agreste household. But this was something else entirely. This was almost...hatred...

Ladybug paused in the front room and glanced back over her shoulder.

"I'm sorry I did not have a lot of time today. I was busy protecting Paris. I came as soon as I was able to. Ladybug lied easily. It was easy to lie to people when they couldn't see your face. She noticed that Nathalie's eyes flashed a little bit, as if she was searching for a lie.  
"You will have to excuse Mr. Agreste he is very distressed by the kidnapping of his son. And he is unavailable to talk to anyone else. He is frankly worried sick and I had to force him to go to bed." Nathalie said as she walked to a pair of chairs beside the grand staircase.

"So it was definitely a kidnapping then?" Ladybug said, before clearing her throat and regaining control of her voice. She walked and joined Nathalie sitting across from her. Nathalie nodded to a newspaper seated between them. It was dated for tomorrows release.

"Yes. The official announcement was a disappearance but these sort of rumors begin quickly. and this rumor is unfortunately very true. Adrien Agreste was kidnapped in the morning when all of our security was disabled, we have no recordings and our security alarms and lights were turned off as well, so we have no idea what happened to Adrien, what time he was taken or who in fact took." Nathalie said. Ladybug checks the woman out, there is clearly more to the story, but she isn't sure how much she should push this...

Finally she decided that it would be best to lay all of her cards on the table. Sneakily of course.  
"Where exactly is the rest of the staff? Adrien's bodyguard for instance has been noticeably absent. I would have thought that a person as important as Adrien would never have a second to himself..."She said clearly waiting for an answer.

"I am afraid that I am the only worker who has remained. Mr. Agreste has dismissed the rest of the staff, it was a foolish moment of grief but he is completely within his rights to do so." Ladybug nods and rubs her chin. That would be completely in character of Gabriel, being so cold and standoffish and aloof. But it still felt off to her, something was clearly going on behind all of this.

"Would I be able to look through Adrien's room?" Ladybug said and stood up expectantly. Nathalie nodded curtly and lead the superheroine through the house and to the large extravagant room. Ladybug glances around it and waits for Nathalie to finally get the hint and step out leaving her alone. Ladybug glances around and frowns even deeper then she had already been.

The room was tossed, overturned, it looked like there had been a struggle. The window was blown out. Ladybug walked to it and looked out, all of the glass was on the outside there was a little on the window frame but most had hit the ground below.  
"Clearly they used the window to break in." Nathalie called in. Ladybug glances at the doorway where Nathalie had propped the door open. Ladybug frowned, she was not going to be left alone while she was in here. She nods pretending to agree, but her mind was racing, clearly this had been framed, and not all that well either. Clearly someone broke the glass from the inside, but whatever had broken the glass was gone, perhaps gathered up from where it had fallen on the grass below.

She rubs her chin and walks around the perimeter of the room, books and papers were tossed around, the bed was overturned, there were obvious signs of a struggle. But something still felt off about all of it. It felt like it was staged, made to look worse then it actually was.

Ladybug finally paused and sat down on Adrien's sliced up mattress. It felt weird that someone would go to the trouble of slicing up his mattress and tossing all of his papers around...She got up and peered into the bathroom, this room was completely untouched, there wasn't even any sign of the papers being blown into the room. She had expected...something out of the ordinary.

"Have you attempted to use your lucky charm yet?" A voice said from behind her. She jumped and turned around with her hands up in a karate pose that Chat Noir had taught her. She chuckles when she realized that it was just Nathalie, who had disobeyed her order and entered when she had told her not to.

"I have not. No." Ladybug said suspiciously. There were a lot of alarm bells going off in her head. Sure she had jumped to conclusions before...But she felt a deep sense of fear in her. She didn't know why, sure Nathalie was always cool and aloof towards Adrien and his friends before but she didn't think that it would be so bad right now.

"I think that I've seen everything that I need to see now. I will just be on my-"She stopped when Nathalie laid a hand on her shoulder and stopped her.  
"Mr. Agreste's door is always open if you ever find anything, or if you feel that you might need some sort of help on this case. After all it is better to have an ally in these sort of situations." Nathalie said. Ladybug felt as if she was being threatened and shrugged off the hand.

"Yes...I understand, tell him that Ladybug...That I...say thank you, but that I already have a partner."  
"Yes. Where is Chat Noir anyway?" Ladybug chuckled and waved it off.

"Secret mission, so secret that he can't even tell me! Yep! That is exactly what's happening!" She turned and marched out of the room, down the hallway and out the front door without even bothering to look behind herself.

"Such a strange young woman, it's odd to think that we still haven't managed to steal those earrings from her yet." Nathalie said before tutting and shaking her head and marching down the hallway to Gabriel's office. The man was standing at his desk, looking through old notes, trying to find something, anything at all that might help them track down his son.

"If the police officers in this town were not useless then I might actually be able to find him." He grumbles before looking sharply at Nathalie as she entered. She nods and takes over at the desk, looking over things that he had been pouring over all night and still finding nothing. She heard the trap door open and close and she let out a sigh of relief. He was going to use their ace cards then. Good, she could live with that.

Gabriel did not even bother to say the words. He just snapped his fingers and Nooro understood. Hawkmoth stood before the open window and closed his eyes. Searching, thinking, feeling. That was the wonderful thing about this miraculous, he could feel everything, everyone, all of their emotions. Which was fantastic for a man like him who so often felt numb and cold, as if all of the happiness of his world had been drained away long ago. He sighed as he meditated letting all of the emotions of the world wash over him.

He zeroed in on the negative ones, working through them. He frowns as his stomach growls and shakes his head. They would have to find someone to actually cook, and to do the grocery shopping, and to clean up the house and yard. How that man ever did all of it at once was beyond Hawkmoth. He rubs his stomach and wonders absentmindedly if there was any one he knew with a good chef.

He pauses as he searches through the police officers emotions. There was a sense of incompotence, frustration, fear, resignation. Nothing that he could work with at the moment, if he permitted these emotions to continue and encouraged them a little then he might be able to exploit them in a few days. There was a small sense of sorrow, of homesickness and loss just at the edge of his mind, he could feel it. He zoned in on it and dismissed the idea. It was coming from the carnival and Gabriel Agreste did not interact with carnie folks. Gypsies. He thought the slur hatefully. How he detested them.

He ignored the strangely familiar pulse coming from the carnival and followed other lines of emotions. He finally settled on a few familiar paths, ones that lead to classmates of Adriens. He grinned maliciously. If there was one group that he could exploit and control, it was these children. He settled his net across them like a fisherman wondering who he would drag in.

Ladybug landed on her balcony and detransformed before shaking her head.  
"Well I think I learned a lot. But that was also a complete waste of my time." Marinette grumbles to a tired Tikki who settled into her spot on the pillow.  
"Less talking more sleeping." The kwamii complained as Marinette fell back and put her hands over her face and sighs. She had to find Adrien, she was determined to find Adrien. She would find him no matter what it took!

"And I've got to find Chat Noir. Great. Two blonde boys go missing, what are the chances?" She grumbles before falling asleep.

Adrien shuffles and then grunts when he gets a kick to the bottom of his cot. He sits up and looks around. It is still dark outside. Plagg was gone. And the Gorilla stood in front of him with a pair of dumbbells and an expectant look on his face.

"Five more minutes?" He asks hopefully only to get a shake of the head in response. He sighs and gets up. It's still dark out, and he was having a wonderful dream...

**Review. I own nothing. Not even this computer.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Review. I own nothing. Not even this computer.**

"Weight training stinks Plagg." Adrien grumbles as he rubs his aching shoulders and arms. The Gorilla had forced him up before dawn to do a high weight low reps work out which lead to Adrien nearly tearing his arms out of their sockets. He winces as he walks into the massive circus tent. This might actually not be the best idea, he wanted to get swoll, what young man doesn't have the fantasy of being strong enough to sweep their significant other off of their feet?

And girl for that matter, he had seen Rose at the gym working out like a fiend every single day for years when he finally asked her why she said it was because she liked to pick up Juleka and carry her bridal style around their houses. Those two were absolutely adorable together.

Adrien glances around the tent and sighs, there is a lot of peanut shells that he is going to have to clean up, and the day hasn't even offically started, the circus ringmaster had just shoved a broom in his hands and sent him to work.

"I wonder if this is technichally child labor?" Adrien grumbles to himself and Plagg who was sitting in his front shirt pocket.

"A mix of both. But it beats the streets." A voice calls from overhead. Adrien cranes his head backwards in amazement as he sees Hazel walking on a tightrope. She steps across the tightrope with effortless ease. Adrien gazes up at her in amazement, perched all the way up there she resembled a small doll or a precious little figurine.

"How did you get all the way up there?" He called up before shaking his head in amazement. "Have you been here this entire time?"  
"Yep, need to get some practice in before chores and breakfast." Adriens stomach grumbles in delight at that word.

"Breakfast would be great." He said as he swept the peanut shells, discarded candy wrappers and chunks of straw up with his broom.  
"Where were you during slop hours last night? I missed seeing you blondie." Hazel was sitting on the tight rope and kicking her feet. He wondered if that was safe, she wasn't wearing a wire and there was no net set up.

"Do you mind if I come up there and talk to you? My neck is starting to hurt looking up at you so much!" He calls up. She smirks before waves her hand dismissively.

"Sure go right ahead. I can't-Blondie!" She shouts out as Adrien drops the broom sprints to the nearest pole with a ladder installed and clambers up the sixty feet like it is nothing until he is practically on the tight rope itself.  
"I was joking! Don't get on!" She shouts holding her hands out. Adrien paused with one hand on the tight rope and the other hugging the pole, he just realized that they were over sixty feet in the air and he probably had not thought this entire thing through.

"Why not? I can do this in my sleep!" He said. His muscles were aching and his back was sore from the workout that The Gorilla had put him through earlier that morning, and then he had climbed this ladder thing without a second thought and was now clutching onto the tightrope with one hand. He actually might not have thought this entire thing through...

"Because you never have two strangers on a tight rope at once! That's like circus rule one! It's not safe! Not get back down on the ground before I make you go back." She glares at him, Adrien gulps before retreating, slowly going backwards, hand over hand foot by foot back to the ground. He looks up when he is halfway down and spots Hazel coming rapidly after him.

"Hurry it up!" She said her foot clacking on the ring above his head. Adrien doubles his speed and is soon on the ground, rubbing his shoulder ashamed at how he had acted. She glared at him for a few seconds, head tilted to the side and her arms crossed.

"What were you thinking? You could have hurt me or yourself. You never rush a performer." She glares at him as he glances everywhere except for at her. He mumbles something and she snaps her finger at him.

"Well? Speak up little boy!"  
"We're like the same age." He snapped back glowering at her. She huffs and shakes her head.  
"Age wise? Sure. But I've been here since forever, I know how to work here. You are treating this place like it's your own personal playground. I live here, I work here. And I don't want you to forget that." She pokes him in the chest making Adrien wince and rub it in distraction.

"I'm...I'm sorry. That wasn't cool. I wasn't trying to put you in any danger. What were you doing up there though? Especially without a net or a wire or anything?" Hazel glances at him before sighing.

"Okay, you got me. I'm really not suposed to be up there without a net or hooked to a harness. Especially when alone. I like to do it though, makes the entire experience a bit more...fun." She frowns at him and pokes at him again. Adrien stepped backwards trying not to get hit. Her fingers were blunt and were going to leave bruises.

"You on the other hand will not be working on that. I could see you doing one of the less physically taxing jobs like running a booth. But I can't picture you in here."  
"What? Not even as a clown?" He says making an overly dramatic frown and running a tear down his face before picking up a few pieces of debris off the ground and juggling them while wiggling his eyebrows. Hazel looked at him in surprise before chuckling and shaking her head again.

"A clown. The boy wants to be a clown. Let me tell you something, no jobs in a circus is easy. And clowning is one of the hardest jobs. You're expected to take a beating and keep on making others laugh. You have to be squished, flexible, tough, and able to take immense amounts of pain. So no I don't think you could make it as a clown." Hazel smirks as she walks to the side of the tent to begin stacking wires.

Adrien follows after her, after not talking to anyone for a few hours he needed to get his chattiness out.

"Well I will have you know that I stubbed the same toe twice in one day!" He said proudly. Hazel turns with a raised eyebrow as he grins and then beats an imaginary snare drum. "That was a joke. Get it? You said I had to be tough."

"Well you aren't great at telling jokes I can tell you that much." She deadpanned as she gestured to a spool of wire. "Help me with that will ya?"  
"I do better with puns in all honesty." Adrien said as he grabbed some more wire and helped her stack.

They worked in silence for a little while before Hazel finally broke it.  
"So where were you last night Blondie? You and The Gorilla have dinner in your trailer or something?" Adrien looked in confusion before grinning nervously.  
"Is that...not...normal?" He asks. She shakes her head in amazement.  
"Man you really don't know a thing about the circus do you? No we mostly eat together at the dining tent. You weren't there for breakfast either. I'll take you around during lunch though." She said .

Adrien frowns in amazement. Even when he got up before dawn he didn't get breakfast? His stomach growled, he wasn't used to skipping a meal. Sure his meals were normally super healthy with a ton of greens and vegetables and brown rice, but he still ate plenty at home. This might be the first time that he was ever hungry...

"Yeah. That would actually be a lot of fun. I would love that...uh...Do they have any stinky cheeses at the dining tent?" Hazel gave him the most flummoxed look in the world as Adrien just grinned nervously.  
"That...wasn't a joke...I sure do love...stinky...stinky cheese."

Plagg hovers beside The Gorilla, he had flown off after the two teenagers started talking. He had gotten bored. He was hovering at face height beside The Gorilla mostly because he only knew him and Adrien. And the Gorilla was hidden so it was okay.

"Look I don't know how long you will keep on putting this off. But eventually you will need to come up with a better plan besides hide from your boss in a circus where no one knows you. I give this three more days before it blows up in your face. Trust me on this. I know everything." The Gorilla glances at the small floating nuisance before waving him off and walking away.

The Gorilla had the nagging feeling that this was all going to go wrong. That he was going to get hunted down any second now. And that iron shackles were going to be wrapped around his wrists and he would find himself either deported or in prison.

"Hey! You!" A thick greasy voice calls out. The Gorilla turned around with his arms up in a protective stance. It was just the ringmaster marching over with a lepard skin leotard and a pair of iron handcuffs and chains.

"I need you to try on the old strong man outfit. You remember our deal right?" He asks with a giggle waving it in front of the Gorilla's face. The Gorilla frowned before ripping it from the Ringmaster's slimy hands and marching off to try it on. It would be humiliating but he could live with that.

"So is Hazel even your real name?" Adrien asked as he pulled a sack behind him. Hazel had an equally large bale of hay that she was dragging. Their muscles straining and some sweat on their arms and foreheads.

"It might as well be. I don't really want to tell you if it is or not though. I like to keep you on your toes." She replied with a smirk. Adrien rolls his eyes. He just doesn't understand girls. They always make things complicated. Why couldn't it just be like in a romance anime when they literally announced their intention in the first ten minutes? He missed his anime.

Hazel gave him a funny look before snorting and shaking her head.  
"You thinking about anime or something? Come on! Put your back into it!" She complained. Adrien paused in amazement as he watched her continue to work.

"How...did...you?"  
"Lucky guess. Now come on Blondie we need to do this and then get to the freak tent to help them go through their lines."

"Lines? Freak tent?" Adrien asks in confusion. This entire lifestyle was so strange to him, and the people were even stranger. He wondered if he was really cut out for this sort of life. He had only half way dreamed about running away and joining the circus, he had mentioned it once to his bodyguard in passing when he was incredibly tired...He hadn't actually meant it!

But if this was really the safest place to hide out and to protect those he loved by staying hidden...well then he would do it!

Hazel reaches back and grabs his large bag of fruit and vegetables with one hand and helped him pull.  
"Hey. I know it's hard here your first few days. But that doesn't mean you get to slack off." She scolds as she helps him drag the food to the elephant pen. Adrien glances at her shyly. She seemed to be the only girl his age there. He had mostly only seen older men.

She might have been rough around the edges but underneath it he could tell...She was secretly nice.

**Review. I own nothing not even this computer. Hopefully more updates will be coming faster.**


	11. Chapter 11

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"Alright class listen up." Madame Bustier said as she glances around the small classroom. The students looked up from their work. Most of them were distracted. She couldn't blame them. She also didn't blame them. She had been distracted all day as well. She gestures to the empty seat at the front of the classroom.

"It wouldn't make sense to just talk around the issue so I am not going to. Adrien is missing, and we are all very worried about him." She waited a few seconds and spent time glancing at every face to gauge their reactions. Ivan was stoic as ever, his scowl not leaving his face. Max and Kim exchanged looks, the two of them looked bone tired. Kim from running around all of yesterday, and Max trying to keep track of him.

Alix was trying to play it cool, but Madame Bustier also notcied that the young pink haired girl had her hand on Mylene's back and was rubbing it softly, the two looked out for each other a good amount.

Juleka was looking at her desk top and Rose was glancing anxiously at her best friend. Both looked pale...or paler then usual as if they wanted to say something but couldn't think about what it was.

Then Madame Bustier looked at the group of people that she didn't want to check up on. Not because she didn't care, but because she cared too much. And it hurt to see some of her favorite and most beloved students hurting.

Marinette had her head in her hands and was biting her lips. She had been distracted all day, either looking at the clock or out the window, as if expecting someone to come flying past. Maybe a superhero. She also continued to check her phone for updates about the news. Even more then Alya did. Which was pretty impressive considering that Alya was practically part cyborg with how much time she spent on her screen.

Both girls looked like they had been outside all day yesterday, their eyes were darting around and they were bouncing their legs in unison. Nino on the other hand looked exhausted. His eyes were red and raw from crying last night, his clothes were wrinkly and disheveled from being slept in. And he constantly raised his hand to ask to go to the bathroom. Madame Bustier guessed that was because he had to check his phone in the hallway away from prying eyes.

The three looked like a mess. But at least they were holding it all together much better then Chloe. The blonde had shown up in the morning with thick sunglasses on and a very expensive diamond crusted and ermine fur hoodie on. She did not talk to anyone, not even her best friend Sabrina. Then a few minutes into the school day she had broke down sobbing and wailing and nothing that anyone could say or do would make her stop. It got so bad that eventually they just had Sabrina pick her up and carry her out of the room and back to her home.

It was the only solution that anyone could come up with. If Madame Bustier had to guess she would say that Chloe was back home laying in bed with her head under a pillow sobbing while Sabrina rubbed her back. Those two were strange but at least they had each other.

Madame Bustier took a deep breath and finally refocused.

"I just want you all to know that the adults are doing everything in their power to find him. We are leaving no stone unturned, no lead unfollowed, no idea unthought. We will find him. We are a family in this classroom, and we will be complete again. That being said Principal Damocles thought that it would be best to give the opportunity for students to talk things over with their teachers if they were feeling nervous or uncertain or worried about themselves, their mental health or about Adrien. And if anyone has any sort of information at all, they are encouraged to step forwards." She glances around waiting for anyone to take her up on the offer, she did not expect anyone too. Most of the boys thought that they were too cool for it. And No one wanted to be the weird therapy kid.

"Madame Bustier?" Nino asked raising his hand. "Would it be like...I don't know...okay if I talk to you after school? I just need to like...get some bad mojo off of my chest." He said nervously, his eyes wide and damp behind his glasses. Miss Bustier smiled and nodded.

"Of course. But first we should all finish the lesson."

"Man. Bustier is pretty cool right?" Alya said as they walked out of the classroom. Nino sticking behind as everyone else filed out. No one made a snide remark about Nino needing to talk, not even the meat headed Kim who constantly enjoyed antagonizing people.

"Yeah. She is pretty great." Marinette said as they left the classroom and walked down the hall.  
"Are you going to be able to search with me today? We still have a few hours before the curfew, and I want to check out a few other places today." Alya asked Marinette as they descended the staircase. Marinette yawned and rubbed her eyes. She had not slept well last night at all. She had been so nervous about Adrien that she didn't know how to react or what to do.

"I think so. Kagami also wants me to search with her so maybe we could all team up or-yawn-something." Marinette says again rubbing her eyes. Alya stopped Marinette sharply with a hand on her shoulder.  
"Whoa. Wait. What? Kagami? Girl when did that happen? Did she call you or did you call her? And is my position as your BFFFL on the line?" Alya said with mock offense making Marinette giggle in response.

"Don't be crazy Alya. You will always be my best friend forever for life." She said wrapping an arm quickly around Alya's neck. The two hugged often and casually, pretty much everyone in their class did. It was one of the reasons why they were probably as emotionally healthy as they were compared to the other crazy's in the city.

The two chuckled as they continued down the staircase. Marinette's ears pricked up as she heard whispering. She always instinctively tuned in to whispering, you could always find out so much information. It wasn't eavesdropping though! That would be rude.

"Got to say-"  
"MDNSM."

"But it's-" The higher pitched voice shot back trying to be encouraging. The gravely voice responded with more muffles and waves.  
"Juleka and Rose. Somethings up." Marinette said turning to the source of the whispering. It was coming from beneath the stairs that Alya and Marinette were headed down.  
"Okay that has to be some sort of weird superpower or something girl. The fact that you can just tell who it is." Alya said as she tried to get Marinette's attention as she spun around the staircase and came face to face with the goth and the pixie. Both stopped talking and turned to Marinette with equally guilty expressions on their faces.  
"Hey guys. What is it? Is everything okay?" Marinette asked nervously as Juleka rubbed her arm and Rose instantly stepped forwards with a nervous fluttering of her fingers.

"Yep! Everything is...oooo!" She stomped her foot as her face curled up in annoyance. She was bad at lying. It didn't help that she had a little kid's face and was just so naturally innocent. So it made it easy to break Rose faster then Juleka. Rose spun on her heel and looked at Juleka pleadingly.  
"If you don't tell them then I will! You shouldn't be ashamed of it Juleka it is amazing! And it is probably helping them so much!" Juleka shook her head before finally grumbling something under her breath.

She spoke for a solid two minutes while Alya and Marinette exchanged confused looks before glancing back at Juleka who had finished with a shrug and a wiggle of her shoulders.  
"Y'know?" She asked finally with a small pink grin.

"I-I-I...uh..."Marinette said as Alya rubbed her forehead.  
"Girl we need to bring you to a speech therapist or something. We didn't get a word of that." Rose pouted and gripped Juleka's hand reassauringly.  
"She said that she and her family found a car floating in the river, and that while they were harvesting it for scrap metal-"

"Naturally." Marinette nodded along. Alya looked at her in amazement.  
"That is the natural thing for you people?"  
"Juleka recognized it, it was Adrien's limo! And then she called the police, which was the right thing to do don't let your mom tell you anything different! And well...I think that she should tell the class but she says that she can't because the police told her not to which is just crazy right? I mean Juleka found a major puzzle piece! And I am sure that Nino would love to know! You too Marinette since you have like the worlds biggest crush on Adrien!" Rose tossed the last part out casually, since everyone in the entire world pretty much knew at this point and was just waiting for him to figure it out.

Marinette blushed and waves her hands helplessly as Alya quirks an intrigued eyebrow.  
"So you found an important piece of evidence but you aren't allowed to tell anyone huh? How interesting." She said while rubbing her chin, her glasses catching the light and making her look like something out of one of Adrien's favorite animes.

"How is that interesting? It's just a car." Marinette said in irritation. Her mind then started to churn, started to make connections and then she realized that yes...this was interesting...very very very interesting...

She rubs her own chin and Juleka felt her stomach drop as she realized what the two were probably going to ask her to do next. She held up her hands and shook her head in amazement trying to make words but her throat was closing up.

"We're going there. Now. I'll get Kagami." Marinette said with authority in her voice as she slammed her fist into her open hand. Juleka groaned and dropped her face into her hands. This was going to get very embarrassing

"I'm just...worried you know? This is like way worse then a lot of other stuff that has happened and I'm just..." Nino sniffs and rubs his nose. Madame Bustier pushed a box of tissues across the table to the young man who pulled a few out and blew his nose before wiping at his eyes.

"God. This is so lame." He said rubbing at the tears and taking off his glasses.

"Hey. It's okay. I am sure that Adrien will be found, safe and sound. You will see. He will be back here with all of us before you know it." Madame Bustier said soothingly as she touched the young mans shoulder. Nino grinned softly at her. She grinned back. She had to tell herself that, she had to tell him that it would all be fine. She didn't entirely believe it herself. But she had to at least tell the children that.

"No. No. Pathetic. Bad taste. Too stubborn. A real pain." Gabriel said as he flipped through the copies of the children that he had made. The pictures were taken from the internet, the information on each one was extensive. Nathalie made good work. And quick work too.

He sighed and rubbed his head, he felt as if his hair was thinning. It didn't help that he was wearing the same clothes that he had on yesterday. He only owned one pair of clothes that he would have cleaned every night when he was in bed. But apparently his sons bodyguard did all of the cleaning on top of guarding his son.

So he was wearing a sweaty sticky disgusting piece of silk all over again. He tripped over an overflowing waste paper basket and kicked it across the room in anger grinding his teeth together.

"If this house is not cleaned soon I will burn it to the ground!" He ground out before a knock came from his door.

"What?!" He snapped as Natalie entered with a stack of papers.  
"The latest information on the man hunt for your son. The latest information on our brand loyalty. And the latest information on Adrien's bodyguard. Also I have compiled a list of possible choices who could become a new chef since we are currently out of food." Natalie said without blinking, she was entirely numb to her employer's tantrums. She had seen enough of them.

Gabriel reached out to the pile, grabbed a random chef and looked at her recommendations.  
"Fine. She'll do. Just make sure she starts tonight and doesn't ask questions." He snaps pushing it back to Natalie.  
"Madame Cesaire. Excellent choice sir. Now about the-"  
"I will look at the police report after I find the perfect target for my akuma. Now out of my sight." He snapped as he turned his attention back to his files. Natalie nodded curtly and walked out. She picked up her cell phone from her own desk and prepared to make a few important calls.

**I own nothing not even this computer. Faster updates if more reviews.**


	12. Chapter 12

**I own nothing not even this computer. Review.**

"Very interesting." Kagami says as she shimmies out from underneath the car. It was still amazingly enough parked right on top of the boat that Juleka and her family called home.

Kagami glances at the other girls all gathered around before nodding and opening the passenger door before clambering in.  
"Yes. This is definitely Adrien's car." She glances upwards and runs her fingertips over the interior. Her eyes close and she ignores the salty smell of the canal. She wrinkles her brow trying to look for something. anything that would give her a clue.

Kagami closes her eyes and breathes out deeply through her nose before inhaling. Trying to gather her thoughts, trying to put everything in order. She caught just the briefest scent of something very familiar. Her eyes flutter open and her smile comes back for a second.

She might just be deluding herself but she was positive that she smelled some of Adrien's favorite cologne. He wore the stuff often, it was advertised by his fathers company, but he did actually enjoy the smell. As did Kagami.

"Okay. So we know it's his car. Now what?" Marinette said leaning on the doorway and gazing in at Kagami who was still sitting still and solid.  
"Well we have to think. If Adrien's car is missing, and he is missing, and his bodyguard is missing what might that mean?" Kagami said. Alya was tapping her chin. The three girls had more or less taken over the entire deck of the ship the moment that Rose and Juleka showed them on.

Marinette turned to Juleka with a question on her lips.  
"Where is your mom? We need to ask her where she found the car." Juleka looked mortified before rubbing the back of her head and grumbling a bit.

"What was that? I don't think I heard you correctly." Marinette said blinking in surprise, she had gotten every third word, but that word had been pretty interesting. Juleka sighs and shakes her head.  
"She's in jail." She said wincing and waiting a few seconds.

"How? And why?" Alya said in amazement. Juleka moaned and covered her face completely mortified of course her friends wouldn't understand, they had a normal family and not a complete psycho like Anarka.

"She said that the cops couldn't come onboard. Then we let them on. Then she started throwing stuff. Then she bit a couple." Juleka was bright red and rubbing her face trying to hide all of the heat behind her thick pasty make up.

"It's nothing to be ashamed about Juleka, all family's have different reactions to things." Rose said as gently as she could rubbing her bestie's shoulder. Juleka quirked a knowing eyebrow and just tightened her lips. Most family's had a weird family member. But Anarka was on an entirely different level of absolutely insane. And Rose was wise enough to not point that out. Kagami though wasn't...

"But...Biting a cop is incredibly illegal. I would think that she would be held at least overnight if not long-" Marinette slapped a hand over Kagami's mouth with a chuckle and waved the words away with a flap of her stimming hands.  
"Yep! Things happen! My grandma has been in prison too! Don't worry about it!" Marinette said attempting to be helpful before turning back to the car and the matter at hand. Alya had turned her attention back to it too.

"So what do you think Alya? Maybe it was a carjacking gone wrong?" Alya glanced up with a raised eyebrow.

"Girl how does a guy disappearing from his bed late at night lead to a carjacking a solid eighteen blocks over? I was looking for evidence of foul play. I mean...If I wanted to get rid of some bodies..." She let the thought hang there as all of the girls shivered. No one wanted to admit that the possibility of Adrien being kidnapped tortured and murdered was pretty high.

"But then where would the bodies be? Unless they got washed out I don't see them." Alya straightened up and walked around the car poking and prodding it like a hunk of meat and she was the chef.

"No. There has to be much more to it then just this. I think that if this was anything it was a diversion, or someone trying to get rid of some evidence." She tapped her chin and then wrinkled her face up in disgust. There was now watery grime caking her chin. She rubbed at it with the back of her hand. Marinette's eyes wandered over the car. The tires were full, not even popped, the windshield was cracked. And the doors were closed...The doors were closed...

"Someone pushed this into the canal." She said. Before chuckling.  
"I mean it's obvious, but that means it wasn't driven in. Someone pushed it in on purpose. And then what?" She pulled open the passengar side door and began pawing through the map box. She frowned. Totally empty.

"Someone didn't want this car identified. But since Juleka found it and she knew whose car it was it was instantly identified." She sat down on the squishy seat. Alya climbed into the drivers seat and Juleka, Rose and Kagami clambered into the back. Probably messing with a lot of police evidence. But the police were dumb enough to leave the car right there unsupervised and not find a place for Juleka and Luka to live. So it was justified.

"Oh I love it when she does this! It's so cute when she becomes a dectective!" Alya said nearly squealing as she took out her phone to record. Kagami's hand shot out to cover the camera.

"We don't want photographic evidence of us in here. It might be used against us." The girl snapped. Alya slipped her phone away, not having thought of that. Marinette's eyes are closed as she thinks. They then snap open and she looks at the seat Alya is in. She then jumps out and goes to the back of the car. SHe leans down and pushes. Her face strains. Alya gets what she is going for and takes the car out of park. Marinette's feet slip over the deck and the car doesn't budge.

"How heavy is this thing?!" Marinette calls out. Kagami comes beside her and leans against the car. She strains and soon her face is bright red. The two girls muscles are straining and their biceps bulging as they try to move it even an inch. They finally collapse gasping and exhausted.

"This thing is way too heavy to budge. You would have to be like a superhero to move it!" Alya said coming around the side of the car and slipping to sit beside Marinette. Marinette rested her head on Alya's shoulder as her mind began to turn and think about what could have happened. Kagami sat down on the other side of Alya and much to Alya's surprise Kagami put her head on Alya's other shoulder.

Rose was trying not to think about how adorable the three looked together. Kagami had no idea why she was doing this, but Marinette was doing it so it had to be something normal that normal friends did right? Kagami was normally totally adrift when it came to making friends or knowing how to interact around them. So she normally just copied what Adrien or Marinette would do in the situation. Or she just matched the intensity that the person was giving her. It sometimes worked out. And other times it just isolated her futher.

"I think that I'm starting to get something." Marinette said with a frown before snapping her fingers. "I've got it! There is no way that a normal person could have moved this car by themselves!"

"You're telling me. It took me mom and Luka close to an hour and two massive winches to get it on the deck." Juleka mumbled from where she hung out of the side door. Marinette nodded and made wide sweeping gestures.

"See that's the point! I don't think that a normal person could have pushed it by themselves. And I don't think that even an entire group could move it. But someone who was almost impossibly strong." She took out her phone and pulled up a picture of Adrien, zoomed in to his perfect blonde face and then shifted the focus to the large man standing directly to his side.

"You think that his bodyguard pushed the car into the canal? But why?" Alya said as Marinette shrugged.  
"Maybe to throw people off of the trail. Maybe because he wanted people to think that they got out of the city since they couldn't find the car. And it wouldn't have been found if Juleka and her family hadn't pulled it out of the water."

Marinette's mind felt like a bee hive of activity as she tried to jump from one thought to the other.  
"I think that we should assume that they are close by. Maybe even in the city. But they haven't been seen so that means that they are still in hiding...And I think that Adrien's bodyguard probably has something to do with Adrien's vanishing."

"Well that is all a lot of good speculation. But I'm not sure how we could prove anything." Alya said with a shrug. "And it doesn't tell us where to even start looking!"

"Or why Adrien's bodyguard would have a hand in his kidnapping. Assuming that he worked alone." Kagami said with her own flabberghasted expression. She actually felt sort of proud of her friend. Marinette had made a few deductive leaps but her reasoning wasn't impossible to follow.

"I can't tell you why. But let's be honest, if a guy the size of that man was walking around with that scowl people would take notice." Marinette said pointing to the bodyguards face. The girls all pulled disgusted looks, he was very very homely. And his scowl didn't help.

"Well where could someone get from here? If they are on foot." Kagami said. Juleka stood up and walked inside before coming back out with a map of the city. She spread it out and pointed to where they were. Marinette shook her head and folded the map in half.

"Probably only this far right? I would say that they are somewhere around this area." The girls poured over the map, pointing and talking as they tried to figure out where Adrien might have gone, and where the two men might be hiding.

Even with sections being too far to walk it still left a large section of the city open.

Alya's ears perked up as her phone rang. She looked at the clock and moaned.  
"Curfew." She said holding up the phone as the others nodded. They all stood up and said their goodbyes to Juleka.

"Thanks for having us over. This helped a lot." Marinette said touching the other girls shoulder and smiling sweetly. Juleka blushed at the praise. She was used to being overlooked so finally having someone acknowledge her for this felt good. Rose gave her a quick kiss goodbye and the four girls exited the boat walking down the gangplank and to Kagami's limo which was already prepared to take them all back to their homes.

As they drove through the streets they saw adults already coming out holding flashlights and maps and getting into organized little groups to start their search. Marinette's head rested on the window as she thought. Adrien...The bodyguard...the amount of space needed for them both...And where they might be heading off to. And why. Why would anyone kidnap Adrien? And why would it be his bodyguard who did it?

Her mind was still a mess as she got home, said goodbye to her friends. Had dinner with her parents, went upstairs and transformed into Ladybug to begin her night patrol.

**Review. I own nothing not even this computer.**


	13. Chapter 13

**I own nothing. Not even this computer. Review.**

"So this is the dining tent." Adrien said, impressed by the scale of the thing. Hazel was leading him past the tables that held all of the workers of the circus. A good number of them called out to Hazel who nodded and shot back finger guns or quips as easily as she could. Adrien followed her with a grin.

None of the circus performers recognized him. Or if they did none of them called him by his name. They all said nicknames like Blondie, or Curls, or Baldie. One or two Cueballs. He took it all in stride. He knew that he looked very strange without his hair. But he was not too concerned about it. Hair would grow back eventually. And he was actually enjoying the change of pace.

He was so used to people touching his hair. Or running their hands through his hair without his permission or styling it so that it would look just so. It got grating after a while. And he was enjoying the feeling of the wind on his scalp and the tough bristles of hair on the back of his neck.

He didn't like that he had to wear such restrictive clothing though. He was used to high quality fabrics and furs and silk garments fit for a king. But he was not going to complain. These had been a gift from The Gorilla after all, and he couldn't be mad about that. The dining tent was a low massive white sheet hung up between six or eight poles. On one end was a large table laden with food, on the other end was a large bucket filled with soapy water.

"Here. Eat up." Hazel said pushing an empty plate into his hands. Adrien glanced around, wondering where the silverware was. Or where the salad section was. Most of it looked to be carbs. Lots of bread and butter, cheap slabs of meat, pasta, and very few greens, most of which was covered in thick slabs of oil. He felt his stomach churn a little bit. The food didn't look incredibly fresh.

But Hazel was digging in with a massive spoon as she heaped pasta and red sauce onto her own place.  
"Hurry up. A line is forming." She snapped as she began to lob food onto his plate for him much to Adrien's surprise. He tried to keep up and followed her down the table. There seemed like plenty of food for everyone. But all of the workers, from the acrobats to the animal trainers to the freak show to the motorcycle group to the clown group were all pushing and pressing and trying to be the first ones in line to the table. As if they expected to starve within a few minutes.

Adrien followed after Hazel as she walked to a group of people who were chattering loudly away. Adrien did a double take as he realized that one of the people had lobster like claws instead of fingers. A woman had a beard, and a rather obese man was daintily eating a cake.

"Gang this is Blondie. Blondie these are a few members of the freak circuit. Goldilocks." She pointed to the woman with the beard. "Stretch." She gestured to the smiling man who waved his fork at Adrien with a happy go lucky smile on his round cheeks. "And Lobsterman."

"Larry." The lobster handed freak actor said holding out his hand. Adrien took it and shook it. It felt like any other hand would. He had expected something different, a bolt of electricity, a warning crackle. But Larry was as average as anyone else that Adrien had ever met.

"Nice to meet you my name is-"They all hiss and covered their ears. Stretch tuts and finishes his slice of cake before leaning downwards.  
"You are new here Blondie that much is obvious. You will get a name when you get a name. That is how this works. But Hazel has already introduced you." He smiles and leans backwards before picking up an orange and starting to peel it. Stretch's voice was incredibly high pitched.

Adrien nods, he still didn't understand this entire name situation. After all, he was Adrien right? Wasn't that all that mattered? Wasn't that the truth? He was actually starting to wonder it a little bit himself. After all if they kept on insisting that he was Blondie and not Adrien...

He shook his head to clear it of all of these strange and confusing thoughts. He instead turned to the circus performers.

"So. How long have you all worked here?" He asked. Goldilocks chuckled before she slurped up her food. Everyone was eating so quickly and heartily. Adrien took a small bite o fhis food and choked it down. It was very greasy, he didn't know how they could stand it. Maybe he was just used to a more...subtle diet. But this felt odd and strange in comparison.

He was hungry though so he ate some more.  
"I've been working the circuit since I was twelve. Those two joined up about a decade back. You sure are green newbie." Larry said as he cracked a walnut effortlessly between his fingers and chewed it down. He grinned and winked before eating another in the same way. Adrien was transfixed.

"Sorry if he seems a little weird guys. I can't begin to explain how green he is to this entire situation." Hazel said rolling her eyes. Adrien glowered at her in irritation.

"Hey! I resent that remark!" He said as over the top as possible to let them know that he was just kidding. Hazel rolls her eyes at it while the others chuckled as if it was the funniest thing that they had ever heard.

"A good set of pipes on him. I might be out of a job soon." Stretch chuckles before slapping his belly.  
"He does have a good build, I could see him joining a few of the horse riders though." Goldilocks said through her thick beard as she studied him with a wide searching pale eye. She was older then Adrien had first thought, probably older then his Dad.

"No no no. Look at those hands. Animals for him? That is much too soft. The stage Magician is looking for a new assistant. He would do well there." Larry said with a cluck. Hazel rolls her eyes and shakes her head.

"Haven't you three heard? The stage Magician was canned for drinking. I heard that the Ringmaster is just doing a favor. He will probably be on just side work."  
"Are you worried that they might group him in with you?" Golidlocks chuckled. Adrien glanced at Hazel, a piece of bread halfway to his mouth. To his surprise she was blushing.

"I doubt that they will make a green boy an acrobat so fast." Hazel said with a sniff. Adrien nodded in agreement, but his mind was racing. An acrobat. That would be fun! In fact he could practically see it. Flying through the air with the greatest of ease, dancing on a tightrope, jumping and spinning. It would be just like being Chat Noir again! That would be incredible!

He sighed and rubbed his bare finger. He missed his ring. Plagg might still be around but it wasn't the same as actually having his powers and cool costume and baton. Adrien needed to be Chat Noir, he needed to get back into the city in case there was an akuma attack! His lady was depending on him! He had to start searching for his ring. And fast!

"I think that I need some more cheese." Adrien said standing up. Plagg would bug him if he didn't bring him something stinky and old and covered in mold and maggots to chew on.  
"Too late. Food is over." Hazel said thumbing back towards the food. Adrien turned with a frown as a large number of older workers stood up and started pulling off the grub. Adrien sighed. Plagg would not let him sleep well tonight after this. Adrien felt a heavy hand on his shoulder and in amazement turned to see an equally large hand holding a tray of cheese out to him.

"Wow! Thanks-" Adrien's gratitude was caught on a laugh as he saw the ridiculous costume that The Gorilla was wearing. The Gorilla frowned in embarsassment and Adrien tried to play the chuckle off as something caught in his throat.

"You look good! Like a real lion tamer!" Adrien said as encouragingly as possible. The Gorilla continued to frown. He was wearing the leopard print leotard, his shaved head was covered in fake scratches and he had a couple of handcuffs attached to his belt. He felt almost naked since his arms were exposed. He had no idea how superheros ran around wearing those skimpy skin tight suits all day. He felt like he was going to be a laughingstock within a few seconds!

Adrien took the cheese and took a big sniff. He grimaced. Yep. Vey old. And very fresh.  
"Thank you. Are you a lion tamer?" Adrien asked as the two sat back down at the table. The Gorilla shook his head before making a bicep. "That's right! I'm sorry I forgot. You are a strong man. It's very impressive."

The Gorilla nodded to Adrien and ignored the rest of the people at the table. They seemed nice enough. And it was good to see Adrien talking to other people during his meals. Normally the young man was forced to eat at home alone. The Gorilla was actually happy to see him interacting with others. Of course it was a table full of circus performers who were all very different ages. But it was still something.

Anything was better then locked in that house with that mad man. With all of his actions controlled and beyond his control. The Gorilla smiled gently to himself. This was good. This could work. Now if only the Ringmaster would get a move on and pull up stakes so that they could get out of the country already!

"Okay...This is probably not going to work." Mrs. Cesaire said as she rubbed her forehead. The pantry was empty. Totally empty. It was actually incredible. She had worked in kitchens for close to twenty years and never once had she gone into an empty one. There was always food. Even if it was expired, or just a sack of potatoes. Rich people always had food.

But apparently not the Agreste mansion. Marlena Cesaire mother of four took out her phone and glanced at the screen saver of her four daughters Nora, Alya, Ella and Etta standing and smiling. She smiled for a second before pulling up a grocery store and dialing quickly.  
"Hello? Yes. I will need the following ingredients."

She made a quick list and continued to go about her work. The kitchen was small cramped and old fashioned. The house was mostly composed of the front hall and the dining room. It was strange and very intimidating. Marlena cleaned the entire kitchen top to bottom. It looked like only a few choice pieces of equipment were used.

She had taken the job from Mr. Agreste since it would be a pay bump of nearly triple her salary and since she worked at the biggest hotel in Paris that was nothing to scoff at. But this was entirely unprofessional. And it was already late. She doubted that she would get home before one or two in the morning! And then she would have to come back here to make them breakfast as that was stipulated in her contract...

Marlena sighed. This was crazy! Whoever worked here before was smart to quit.

Nathalie walked past and paused in the doorway before glancing around and walking in.

"Chef Cesaire. We expected you to be cooking right now."  
"I am sorry Ms. Sancouer. I will get right on that. But the ingredients need to arrive. And I was curious what time you would expect me for breakfast tomorrow morning. And would I need a pass key for the gate or-"

Nathalie cut her off by holding up a hand and going through her notes on her pad. She frowned and shook her head.  
"I am sorry Chef Cesaire. But we will need to make you a copy, which might take a few days to go through our supplier. Until then you are more then welcome to use our spare bedroom so that your commute will not be as extreme. In return we can bump up your salary until it is all sorted out. Does that sound good? Excellent."

Without any room for argument Nathalie marched out and shut the door, debated locking it, but felt that was too extreme and walked to Gabriel's study. Gabriel rubbed his chin as he studied Alya's charts.  
"Seperation from her mother should speed up the emotional process. But I am not sure if she would be the perfect victim. Chloe might work but she is so..."  
"Bratty? Spoiled? A loose cannon?" Nathalie said listing all of Chloe's negative traits out on her fingers. Gabriel nodded before he looked back at the papers.

"Someone emotional. Loyal to Adrien. And broken. I need broken." He mused as his stomach growled. He was hungry.

**I own nothing. Not even this computer. Review.**


	14. Chapter 14

**I own nothing not even this computer. Review.**

Adrien huffs as he follows Stretch into the main tent. He groans as he drags the large pile of props behind him. Stretch has a tiny bowling ball that looks dwarved in his massive meaty hands. The fat man pauses for a second before smiling and tottering around to grab the other side of the chest.

"No! No it's fine. The Gorilla said that I have to do any physical labor myself. In order to get stronger. He told me that I have to do stuff by myself to grow the muscles!" Adrien said breathing heavily. Stretch chortles in a high pitched nearly feminine level before raising an eyebrow.

"The Gorilla said this? He said this." He raises an eyebrow and Adrien grins himself before rubbing the back of his head realizing what he had said.  
"Well...okay...Maybe it was mostly charades and a lot of guess work but he got the point across." Adrien grips the heavy prop chest and heaves again. Stretch throws up his hands, what is he to do if the boy does not want any help? He walked to the middle of the rings and sat down on a small stool. Adrien looks at it in concern before Stretch knocks his knuckles against the side.

"Not to worry. It's made out of steel, not even my behind could crack it." Adrien blushes and holds up his hands.  
"I didn't mean to be-"

"Blondie I am fat. It is straightforward. There is no shame in a persons weight or body. I realized that a long time ago." Stretch says wiggling his finger at Adrien. "Besides if people will pay to see me then what should I complain about?"

Adrien nods as he starts unpacking the chest. He guesses that makes sense. He glances upwards at the tightrope walk. Hazel was practicing up there, still without any harness or safety nets. He rubs at his jaw nervously. He pulls his hand back in surprise and rubs again. He has some stubble growing, he wondered when that happened.

"She is a pretty one no?" Stretch says winking. Teasing the now blushing blonde. "But alas she says that she wants nothing but the tightrope."

"That's probably for the best. I sort of have a couple of girlfriends." Adrien says in response. Stretch leans forwards eagerly.  
"GirlfriendS? With an s at the end?"  
"It's...well It's complicated. I like a few girls a lot and I don't want to hurt anyones feelings if I choose one or the other. It's a lot like those old American comics with the two girls and the red headed boy." Adrien says as he tosses up his hands. "Oh man I bet that they are so worried about me. I should go and check up on them soon."

Stretch's face falls and he shakes his head.  
"You should just leave it. Better to break without the heartbreak. We are going to be packing up the circus in a couple of weeks and only have one more show during that time. It would be far less painful to just leave. Trust me." Stretch rubs his chest as he starts to unpack the chest.

Adrien gazes at him in confusion before shaking his head.

"Leaving? For where?" He had never left this city for more then a few weeks, why would they just leave now of all times? He felt like he was being left out of a very important discussion.

"The East. Maybe cross the channel or go all the way to Canada. Who is to say. The Ringmaster makes the difficult financial choices." Adrien sat down heavily. His head spinning his eyes felt heavy. He felt like he couldn't breathe. Everything was going crazy! He wanted to go home! He wanted to see his father! He wanted to be Chat Noir and dance over the rooftops! He wanted...He wanted...He wanted...

Ladybug. Nino. Kagami. His friends, his family. He felt his chest tighten. He was having a heart attack! Or a panic attack! Or both!

He grips his chest and grimaces. Then a small brightly colored ball rolls and nudges his toe. He glances down as another rolls over. Stretch has a few in a pile by his feet. The fat man has around seven in the air and is juggling them without a care in the world. Then he nudges one over to Adrien again using his big toe. Adrien grabs this one and holds it for a second. He glances back up at the juggling man.

Stretch looks over and nods. Adrien feels his heart beat slowing down, his eyes readjusting. His pulse slowing. He gulps and grabs another ball and starts to imitate Stretch. Soon the two have a few balls in the air each. Stretch nods impressed by how fast the boy learned. He then tossed one of his balls to Adrien. Adrien caught it and tossed one back.

Stretch smirks and catches it deftly before returning another one to Adrien. Soon the two are tossing the balls back and forth without a single care in the world. Adrien actually chuckles and shakes his head in delight.

"I didn't know you were a juggler." Adrien said as Stretch continued to toss the balls. Stretch reaches into his back pocket, juggling around six balls with one hand. He then pulled out a ring and tosses it to Adrien who grabs it with ease.

"This is a circus Blondie. Most people have two or three jobs. I am a fat man in the freak show, and I am a clown. You have skilled hands. Have you ever thought about joining the clown racket?" Adrien snorts and shakes his head.

"My father would have a stroke and disown me if he ever caught me dressing up like a clown. No offense." Stretch waves it off.

"But it seems like a lot of fun. The last clown show I saw here was fantastic!" Adrien remembered the night well. There had been sickeningly sweet deep fried food. A crown of people. Front row seats. Seltzer water being sprayed. And then he had gotten to ride the ferris wheel between Kagami and Marinette and at the top was where they had kissed his cheeks, trying out the new lipstick that they had bought from a vendor at the fair.

He sighs. He misses them. He misses his friends. Stretch notes the look on the young man face and rubs his chin in concentration.

"You know Blondie sometimes it is good to get some fresh blood in the clowning circuit. How would you feel about performing with me next time that we are open? Just to see how you do. Then we might take you on as a more permanent apprentice." Adrien's eyes brighten as he grins.

"That would be amazing! Thank you!" The two freeze when they hear a whistle from up above. They look up to see Hazel pointing out towards the front tent flaps. Adrien glances over as did Stretch. The Ringmaster was sprinting towards the two waving his hands and growling like a wild animal.

"Back to work. It never ends." Stretch chuckles as he stands up with a huff. Adrien gets up and the two walk to where the Ringmaster was. Hazel was coming down the ladder with fearless ease. Adrien could almost swear that she was like a spider, clambering up and down.

The Gorilla stooped low. Gripped the thick metal bar and breathes out and in slowly. He then stands up with the heavy weights in his hands. The weights bend the metal bar downwards as he slowly stands back up. He grinds his teeth as he lifts over his stomach past his pectorals then over his head. He holds the weights for a few seconds before placing them back down just as slowly.

He checks them, around four hundred KG. Not bad. If he had really stuck with it he probably could have been a pretty impressive weight lifter. He grins and admires his biceps. He then went back to the smaller training weights, it would not make sense to hurt himself before his first show. Now if only they could give him a halfway decent uniform. This costume made him look absolutely absurd.

He glances at the small black creature floating around the ceiling of the trailer. He can see Plagg through the window. Which probably means that the others can see him too. Just as long as the bratty black cat did not steal the ring then it would all be fine. The Gorilla checks the small chain around his neck. Totally safe. He even wore it when he slept. No one was taking this away from him.

He would rather die.

He paused for a second, his job descriptions normally said that he would have to die for a client. He had never given it much thought before. Why should he? But now. Now reflecting on it, he would. He would willingly put his life on the line for the boy.

"Hey!" Adrien shouts over to the Gorilla as he walks quickly over. The Gorilla visibly relaxes and nods as the shorter man power walks over. The Gorilla pushes any more thoughts about his death from his head and nods to Adrien again.

"I was just talking with a few of the performers. I might just be able to be in a few of the shows. Isn't that great?" The Gorilla's eyes widen as his stomach drops. This was not part of the plan. This was not good. At all. If Adrien was out in the public eye...Then that could put the entire plan in danger.

"Yeah! Isn't it exciting! I could get to be one of the clowns!" Adrien said. The Gorilla let out a little sigh. That might actually be acceptable. He could handle something like that. He could control that variable. He would have Adrien wear a large amount of make up, he would have him wear a wig. He would have Adrien disappear. It was the only way to be sure.

"Well I'm going to take a shower and then we can go to dinner, do you want to sit at the same table tonight?" Adrien blabs on excitedly. The Gorilla nods as he follows after Adrien. The two went to the shower stalls and entered different ones. Unaware the entire time of a small black pixie like animal following behind them. And keeping an eye on the ring that was on a chain around The Gorilla's nearly nonexistent neck.

The Gorilla scrubs at his chest and then at his face. The soap was coarse and was getting into his eyes. He grumbles and closes them. Plagg floats upwards and waits a second. He then blows a little bit and the chain snapped. The Gorilla snorts and reaches downwards. Eyes blind with soap. Plagg flits downwards and pulls the ring free. He chuckles as he rolls the small clay fake that he had made. It had taken him a few hours but he was more or less trapped inside of that trailer all day. And some moron had left clay under the floorboards. That or insulation. Either way Plagg had a lot of free time.

The Gorilla snorts and holds the chain up. His throat seizes as he realizes that the ring isn't on it. He glowers at the floor. Cursing his terrible eyesight. He spots the ring and picks it up. It feels weird under the water. Like not real metal. The stall next to the Gorilla's turns off and Adrien steps out scrubbing his hair. The Gorilla doesn't have time to worry. He turns off the shower, puts the chain back on, tying a knot where it had broke. And steps outside to dry off and change.

Plagg floats behind a nearby pile of towels and lets out a sigh. He holds the ring calmly in his tiny nubs. Now came the hard part.

**I own nothing not even this computer. Review.**


	15. Chapter 15

**Review. I own nothing. Not even this computer.**

Adrien sniffs and wiggles in his sleep. His shoulders and back are sore. He snorts as the stink starts to go into his dreams. He gasps in his dream. He is falling, faster and faster. The hands that are bleeding out of the wall scratch at him.

He is finally caught by them, there are six of them. They cup him hold him upwards. They look wrong though, pulled out of line. He glances around wildly, desperately trying to find something familiar. Then he recognizes one of the hands, the ring that she wears with her family's symbol on it.

"Kagami." He gazes upwards. Another hand flashes in the darkness. Bright red with black polka dots.

"Ladybug!" He calls out as he wants his throat to form words. Desperate for some sort of help.

The last set of hands are soft but firm, gentle yet leaving no room for argument. There are callouses on their fingertips. He gazes upwards and catches sight of her bluebell eyes and dark blue hair.

"Marinette." He breathes out. A deep rumbling fills his ears as the hands fade away and he is falling again. One word being echoed in his mind.

"Choose." The three girls echo out as he falls faster and faster. He sits up with a gasp as the stink of cheese fills his head. He feels like he is about to scream when a small black nub is pressed to his mouth.

"We don't have a lot of time. Maybe two or three hours. I will need to return this." Plagg says pressing the ring against Adrien's hand. Adrien glances down at it in delight. His lost ring! He had felt so...vulnerable without it. Naked. Exposed. And here it was!  
"Plagg! Have you been hiding this or-" Plagg shushes him glancing around the small trailer nervously. Adrien had never seen the normally relaxed god so anxious before.

"Plagg is everything-"  
"Everything is fine Adrien! Just get that thing on so that we can go for a little joy ride! You'll have to give that back to me so I can hide it again though!" Plagg looks so wide eyed and desperate that Adrien can only nod.  
"Okay...I understand." Adrien slips the ring on, slips out of the trailer, glances around and transforms.

Chat Noir jumps across the rooftops a wild yowl of cat like joy fills his throat. He smiles and bounds from one rooftop to another. He feels lighter then air. Stronger then a demigod! He could tear the world apart or hold it all on his shoulders. Another bellow of joy comes out of his mouth. He lands on all fours and sprints across the rooftops.

"Oh man! Thank you plagg!" He shouts at the top of his lungs. He jumps over another empty street as a woman walks down it. She yawns and shades her eyes wondering what that was all about.

Chat Noir pauses right outside of his house. He stares at the forboding walls and the barred windows. He gulps. It couldn't hurt to just peek inside right? To just take a quick look around...He would be in and out and then gone. He could say hello to his father, reassure him that Adrien was safe. He could take to Natalie and put her fears to rest...He could pop into his room and get some of his stuff. He could do so much.

He sighs. He shouldn't do any of that though. The Gorilla had made it clear that it was not safe. Maybe his father was being blackmailed, maybe his father was being held hostage. He would not go into his house though. He glances around. His eyes had adjusted to the darkness, his muscles felt refreshed, even just a few minutes in the suit recharged all of his energy. It was like getting a shot of adrenaline.

He stares off towards the distant Eiffel tower. It had been a while since he climbed it...And it was so late that he doubted anyone would mind...Chat Noir jumped, swung his baton to the ground and was launched across the rooftops. Another yowl raising in his throat.

Marinette stood on her balcony, she yawned, she had a bit of insomnia and it was always hard to gauge when she would actually be asleep. She watches the moon blankly. She never used her phone when she was this tired, otherwise she would just be up all night playing games. She blinks and feels her head start to droop. She should probably go back to bed now...

Chat Noir jumps across the moon and she blinks for a few seconds. Wondering if she just imagined it. Then she hears the loud wild meow following the cat boy and she growls.

"Of course." She says. She smiles to herself. Secretly pleased. She had been worried about him. Chat Noir had not picked up his phone or answered any of her messages for a while now. She had been concerned.  
"Tikki!" She snaps down into the bedroom where the kwamii was sitting on Marinette's phone going through the girls social media page and liking a few of Marinette's friends pictures for her. Just because the small red bug mouse creature cared.

"Tikki!" Marinette snapped again sticking her head down through the trap door. "Spots on!"

Chat Noir lands at the top of the tower and gazes around sighing in delight. It was a lovely night and he could see the entire city. There was no one out on the street which was odd. And no one trying to take pictures. Heck there weren't even any couples strolling along in the moon light! Which was very very odd for the city of love.

"Curious." Chat Noir said as he plopped down on the tower walkway and leaned his head against the railing kicking his feet.  
"What is?" A voice comes from behind him. Chat Noir grins like a stray that had just found a chunky fish laying around.  
"Oh that my favorite superhero hasn't shown up to sweep me off my feet." Chat Noir glances up at Ladybug as she descends from her yoyo and lands beside him. "How are you tonight my lady?"

He bows a little and Ladybug groans rolling her eyes at his cheesiness.  
"Miffed that you haven't responded to any of my calls for the last two days! Where have you been Chat Noir! We are a team and I can't just-" She pauses and glances over him. Clearly something wasn't right. Same boots, same tight black leather outfit made out of magic, same tail. But his hair...

"What did you do to your hair kitty cat?" Ladybug said plopping beside him and rubbing her hands over his head, right past his black ears. Chat Noir blushes and smiles enchantingly.  
"What? Haven't you ever wanted a short fur cat?" He said before chuckling at the joke. She groans and rolls her eyes in irritation again.

"Now isn't the time for jokes kitty. We have a problem. One of PAris's leading citizens has been kidnapped. Adrien Agreste disappeared-"  
"Adrien?" Chat Noir says gulping and twiddling his thumbs. "Oh dear...How long has that been?"  
"Did you listen to a single one of my messages?" Ladybug deadpans as Chat Noir gulps and shrugs. He pulls out his baton and starts scrolling through his messages. There were over fifty calls and two hundred texts. The texts start out sweet but then get meaner, and then specific. And finally threatening.  
"My lady! I didn't know that someone so sweet could text something so salty!" Chat Noir said feigning hurt as he touched his chest.

"Yeah yeah. Don't play the innocent kitten route mister." Ladybug saids with a frown before guiltily looking over his shoulders. She had probably gotten a bit too mean in the last few. She winced at some of the descriptions.  
"Yeah that is a little far." She admitted as he quirked an eyebrow as if to say 'you think?'

"I am sorry for having left you in the loop though my lady. I've been busy on another mission."  
"Does it have anything to do with the terrible haircut?" Ladybug teases again and rubs the top of his head as if to get good luck. Chat Noir waves her off with a chuckle.  
"Something like that." He watches her face, so lovely and smooth and round. Like a moon, with a bright blue fire in her eyes. He can feel his heart going at a hundred miles an hour and blushes. "I've been trying to get in contact with you. I just want you to know that I would never leave you on purpose. I would have to be dragged away kicking and screaming."

He took her hands in his and looked into her eyes. Ladybug pulled back a little and he let her go, after all he didn't want to be considered innapropriate or creepy, he genuinely liked her. And it was so so hard to get her to understand that even though he had confessed it to her again and again and again!

"Chat Noir? What are you talking about? Of course I know that you would you know, never willingly leave. Why? Is something happening?" Chat Noir sighed and looked down. He felt her small dainty hand cup his chin and pull it back up. He could feel a few callouses on her fingers and along the inside of her palm, the suit might be thick but he had sensitive skin. He gulps as he stares at her.

She is so cool. And powerful. And beautiful. He felt himself falling in love with her all over again.

"I might be leaving. Soon. I will try to be back as soon as I can and as often as I can. But something beyond my control is happening." He said gently and sadly. "And I'm scared. I have so many friends here. And I can't leave them here without telling them something. And I don't think that I'll be able to tell them how much they mean to me."

Chat Noir felt his heart starting to thunder and Ladybug put a finger to his lips to slow him down.  
"Wait. What? Chat you need to-"  
"I'm sorry. But aren't you the one who constantly says that we can't risk our secret identities? Well this has to do with mine." He closes his eyes and lets out a long breathless sigh.

"I don't know how to respond to this Chat." Ladybug said. She felt her head spinning, she felt lightheaded. This wasn't a akuma attack, this wasn't searching for a missing person. This was losing her most important second in command. Chat Noir gazes at her mournfully.

"This was all super sudden to me too. But I'm not going to be going anywhere anytime tonight. So don't worry. I will find a way to get the ring back to you too. I promise. Even if I have to mail it back."

The two look at each other. Ladybug's face looks drained and Chat Noir's mind races. SHe looks like she is about to have a heart attack or a stroke or something. He needs to think of something to say to calm her down, to get her back to functioning!

"I'm sure that you will find a new Chat Noir fast. I have total faith in you." He said with a warm smile. She shakes her head once then again harder this time.

"No. Chat...I can't...You...You're it...I can't imagine working beside anyone besides you." Chat Noir feels his heart break again. It felt like that was happening a lot that night.

"Welll...I think that you're going to have to bugaboo." He said before looking back over the city.  
"It's not cancer is it? I mean the dissaperance, the hair loss..." Ladybug said her mind instantly going to the darkest possible place. Chat Noir yelps and shakes his head.  
"What! No! I'm not going to die! I just...I won't be able to be Chat Noir anymore! Something big and impossible has come up. I just...I won't be able to help you. I'm sorry."

"And you can't give the ring to me now because?" She said wonderingly.  
"Well I still need to get home somehow right?" He said chuckling slightly. Ladybug looked far from amused. Chat Noir sighs and takes her hand gently in one of his.  
"Do you mind if we just sit here for a little big Ladybug? Just the two of us and the city?" He asks. Ladybug glances at him, nods once. And the two sit in silence for a few hours not talking or interacting. Just sitting and holding hands.

Chat Noir glances between two tents and sprints past them. He ducks behind a barrel jumps over a squat lion cage. And skids to a stop beside the elephants.  
"Plagg. Claws in." He mumbles. Plagg detransforms and Adrien stands breathless in the darkness.  
"Good thing no one saw me." Adrien mumbles before handing the ring back to Plagg. Plagg took it reluctantly before he started to float off. He pauses again and glances back down at Adrien.

"Go on. You need to put it back where you found it." Adrien says with a smile. Plagg floats back down to Adrien's eyes level and looks steadily in the young mans eyes.  
"I'm not going anywhere until I absolutely have to. Okay?" Plagg said making firm and unwavering eyecontact with Adrien. He smiles and nods.  
"I know Plagg. Thank you." Adrien smiles. Plagg nods and takes off again. Adrien sighs and stars walking to his trailer.

Plagg pops in and floats over towards the sleeping Gorilla. He hovers for a moment, trying to find a good way to get down there. When a trashcan lid sized hand plucks him out of the air and brings him close with a growl. Plagg gulps as The Gorilla rolls over and puts a hand over his eyes ignoring everything. Plagg glances upwards as Adrien creaks open the door, tip toes in and gets into his cot.

Plagg looks at the Gorilla's face and much to his surprise the big man is actually smiling softly to himself. As if this was all part of some strange plan known only to him.

**I own nothing not even this computer.**


	16. Chapter 16

**Review. I own nothing not even this computer.**

"I should have told her that I love her Plagg." Adrien said as he walks through the circus tent. He sighs and stretches. It is still early. He had not slept well. The evening had played in his dreams over and over again. He could still feel the warmth of her beside him.

"I should have held her hand and put my forehead against hers." Adrien said as he started to put down the hay for the day. He pulled out enormous handfulls from the bale and spread them over the three ring circus tent. He glances up. The tightrope is still there. He wonders if he has the same powers as Chat Noir does in and out of the suit. Just how much is Plagg's influence and how much is his own natural reflexes.

"I should have kissed her." Adrien sighs out touching his lips in regret. He glances around, empty. No one around. He gulps and walks to the ladder.

"I shouldn't be doing this." He grumbles but he starts climbing anyways. Soon he is at the halfway mark, Plagg floating beside him with a raised eyebrow.

"This is a really dumb idea Adrien." The small floating creature complains as they climb higher and higher. "You live in a circus isn't that enough? You pretty much have every kids dream life. Do you really want to tempt fate by clambering on top of a thin wire who knows how high in the air?"

"Yes." Adrien answers with a smug grin. Plagg tosses up his stubs and floats away. "Be my guest then. It is dumb but it is your life." He nibbles on his tiny stubs before flying back to hover beside him. He wouldn't be able to actually do anything without the ring but he could at least hang beside Adrien.

"I should have done so much with Ladybug. But we are going to leave soon. And I'm never going to be back here. And you're going to have to go back to Ladybug. The city needs Chat Noir." Adrien said firmly when Plagg opened his mouth.

"Don't try to argue with me Plagg. You will have to leave me. And that's alright. It will all be fine."

"I wasn't trying to talk you out of it. I know that I will have to leave. I mean have you tried the cheese that they serve here? It's gross." Plagg wrinkles his nose and sticks out his tongue. Adrien pauses for a moment and glowers at his friend.

"Jerk. Here I was pouring my heart out to you-"  
"Which happens pretty regularily in our relationship." Plagg snarks again.  
"And you make fun of me." Adrien pouts before clmibing again.  
"What I was going to make fun of you about is how you completely ditched those other girls. I swear you are like one of those dull anime protagonists that you go wild for."

"How?" Adrien says as he gets to the tiny platform that lead to the wire.

"Well you only focused on one of your little girlfriends. Don't you remember? You have three." Plagg deadpans as Adrien takes a step out onto the wire. He takes another and much to his surprise finds it easy.

"Wow. That isn't too bad." Adrien said taking a few more. He paused and brought a leg up. His arms are out to the side and he smiles. His muscle memory as Chat Noir had to be playing a part. He had been jumping over the rooftops for what felt like years. He had to build up some sort of muscle.

"And what do you mean three girlfriends? I don't have any girlfriends!"  
"Ladybug? You drool over her every single second of every single day." Plagg points out. Adrien blows a raspberry.  
"She is the love of my life! I am going to marry that girl one day! I don't consider that girlfriend material. I classify that as soulmate material."

"Creepy. And what about Kagami?"

Adrien pauses and flails his arms out. Plagg yelps and flys forwards to grab the back of his cheap polyester shirt. Adrien rights himself and suddenly remembered that he was very high up with no real idea how to get down. He started backing up until his heel touched the platform. He sighs out and looks in confusion at Plagg.

"I...don't know about Kagami. She is incredible. And cute. Amazing...and well...Oh man do I have a crush on Kagami? I never even went to visit her last night! Plagg! I'm scum!" Adrien said sitting down and letting his legs dangle. Plagg snorts and nudges his head.

"And what about that baker girl? Marinette?"

Adrien looks at Plagg in confusion scratching his chin and thinking.

"What about her? She is a sweetheart and one of my best friends. You can't just date your best- What are you doing now?" Plagg was flying headfirst into the pole and screeching in irritation.

"You-Are-So-Dumb! AUHGHGHGHG!" Plagg growls out before flying back and sitting on Adrien's shoulder. "Got it out of my system. All good now."

Adrien glances down in confusion. Plagg was such a strange little creature. And very confusing sometimes. Like he looked like a cat but ate cheese? Isn't that a rat thing?

"There's no need to be mean Plagg." Adrien said as he started down the ladder. "Beside's Marinette is just a good good friend. She's sweet. Encouraging. Has been to all of my fencing games, a lot of my fashion shows, we studied Chinese together that one time. See each other at parties a lot. If that's not true friendship then I don't know what is."

"And those confusing dreams where she appears in giant form and chants down choose choose choose along with Kagami and Ladybug two people that you know you have a crush on. That isn't weird to you? At all?" Plagg says in amazement as Adrien pauses.

Adrien winces and rubs his shoulder. Careful to keep his footing. He glances at Plagg and then tries to think of a good response. His back and sides were sore from the workout that The Gorilla was still putting him through. He couldn't wait to get muscles the same size as his bodyguard!

Adrien stopped to think about what Plagg had just said, rolling it over in his head. He glances at Plagg and then back towards the ground. His lips felt very dry all of a sudden.

"Well...It's just...Marinette is Marinette. I...could she? No...I mean...Plagg do I have a crush on Marinette?" He said glancing at the small kwamii in confusion. Plagg tries to resist the urge to sneeze on the ring that Adrien was holding onto.

"I don't know you tell me! It's your mind! I have no control over who you do or don't like! You could like Nino for all I know!" Plagg complains as Adrien starts down again. Adrien pauses for a second, his eyes widening in shock as his brain attempts to make sense of everything.

"Nah. Nope. I love the guy...But no." Adrien chuckles as Plagg rolls his eyes.  
"It doesn't matter anymore though. We are leaving here soon. And this will be the last time that I ever got to see them. And I blew it by visiting Ladybug and not telling her how I feel. I should have seen Nino, and Marinette. And Kagami. And told the two girls..."

"Well. Not that it matters anymore anyway...But who would you have picked?" Plagg said suddenly interested. Tikki would love the gossip if he ever got to see the ancient creature of creation. Adrien shakes his head.

"It's not that simple Plagg. I wish that it was. But I've got feelings for all three of them! UGH! If only they could somehow all be the same person."

"Whatever it is you're talking about. I don't care. You know that you're not supposed to be up there." A voice chimes from right beside him. Adrien glances to his left and gulps. He had reached the bottom. And Hazel was there. Glaring. Angry as a wild animal. She frowns as he steps down and rubs the back of his head. His face dropping.

"Why were you up therE? Actually no. Don't care. Get a shovel and get to work. We have an early meeting with the Ringmaster today. But we all already knows what he is going to say." Hazel snapped in irritation. Adrien looked confused as he followed after her.

"Really? What is he going to-"

"We are having one last show in 48 hours. And everyone is going to have some sort of part. He is also inviting a lot of nearby schools to come. Because for some reason kids like the circus." Hazel snaps as Adrien pauses in shock.

"Schools? Coming here? Do you know which ones? This is important! I have to-"Hazel glares at him as he falls silent again.  
"You know the rules about using that tightrope Blondie. And you broke the rules. Which is a big freaking deal. And you should feel bad for breaking them." She snorts and shakes her head. "Eh, who am I kidding, you're probably just a transitory worker. I shouldn't get too attached."

Adrien looks at her shocked before he slowly grew saddened as the meaning of the words hit him.

"Transitory...You mean like temporary? Me and The Gorilla might be leaving?" He asks nervously clutching his shovel. She turns and he thinks that she actually looks a little soft and sad for a moment.

"Yeah. I thought you knew. We don't get many new workers. If I had to guess you are only going to be here for a couple of months before they kick you out. Probably somewhere near the Ukraine. It happens. Jeez you really didn't-"

Adrien turns away from her and goes outside, walking past the elephants and to his normal duties. Of shoveling out the elephants from their mountains of doodie.

Plagg floats over from his hiding spot and hovers in front of Adrien.

"Are you okay? You look really beaten up all of a sudden."

"I-Plagg I'm scared." Adrien admitted, his eyes wide and wet. A tear runs down the normally chipper boy's face. "I miss my father. I miss my house and my bed. I only have The Gorilla and I don't even know his name. I've lost all of my friends. My family. My home. I thought that this place might be a replacement. Everyone seems so nice, and cool and even welcoming. Even Hazel did in a weird way. But it isn't permanent. If I have to leave this place then what...then what's the point?" He hangs his head.

Plagg glances upwards when he hears some wings flutter past. The familiar purple black butterfly looks like it might block out the sun even though it was the size of a postcard. Plagg's breath quickens and he flies upwards to raise Adrien's head.

"HEY! No moping around! You listen to me Adrien! Sure this might not be the permanent home that you want! But as long as I am able I am not going anywhere!"  
"But...Ladybug...Hawkmoth!" Adrien protests his heart beating faster.  
"Screw them! You're my friend! And Im sticking by you as long as I can!" The small black cat said in response. Adrien blinks, the tears begin again. But he is smiling.  
"PLAGG! AW! PLAGG!" Adrien grabs him and pulls him to him. The small black creature barely bigger then a bird tries to hug back but struggles since Adrien is nearly crushing him.

Adrien's head perks up in realization.  
"Schools...Plagg! Schools! The class might come to the circus for the final show! I might get to see them all again! Even if it's just for a second! I'm sure that The Gorilla won't mind if it's just for me to say goodbye!" Adrien said excitedly. Plagg's whiskers twitch and he is about to protest. But the butterfly is just starting to depart. And he can't risk ruining the young man's mood again.

"CURSES!" Gabriel shouts as he stomps his cane. Cracking the ceiling all the way in his office. "Those emotions! So raw! So familiar! I was so close!" He detransforms and walks to the small table in the room. He had made his secret lair his go to room ever since Adrien had been kidnapped. Sleeping and eating in there every single day. He sometimes remained in costume all day, nathalie had to remind him to not come out as Hawkmoth once or twice.

He growls and taps his foot as Nooro sits on his small pillow and gazes at Gabriel in concern. Gabriel grabs a fruit tart and takes a bite. It was delicious. the new chef was a hard worker. But apparently she would not shut up about having to go see her family, he rolls his eyes. She had just been working in the mansion for a week, he once hadn't seen Adrien for a solid month and a half. It was normal for families to be split up!

Gabriel picks up the files again and starts searching, he already had a good akuma in mind, but he was still missing a victim for it...

**Review. I own nothing not even this computer.**


	17. Chapter 17

**Review. I own nothing not even this computer.**

"Thanks for letting me tag along girls." Alya says glancing between the two young and inexperienced 'detectives'. They were walking up the front steps to the Agreste manor. Marinette looking nervous, and Kagami looking steadfast. The fencer pauses to glance at the grass and flower garden.

"Their gardener has not been working here for a long time. Unusual." Kagami speaks bluntly as she glances back to the front door. It was only because Kagami had knocked that they had been given entrance. Which was lucky for the three of them. Alya could tell that going here was a good idea, and would probably help the two girls find a break in the case that they were so desperate to close.

Alya had more selfish reasons for joining in.

"Of course Alya! I mean it's your mom right? How could we refuse?" Marinette said with a smile as she touches her friends shoulder and squeezing. Alya smiled gratefully before nodding. It had been a few days since Alya had seen her mom, and everyone at home was worried. Otis had been trying to keep the kids calm, but Alya could see that her father was nearing his breaking point. If it wasn't for the phone calls that Otis had with Marlena (Quick tense ones at two in the morning that only lasted a few minutes) then he would be down by the gates pounding and demanding to be let in.

"I just can't believe that he won't let her leave! Isn't that slavery or something?" Alya said as they waited for the door to be answered. Marinette bites her lips in concern. She had not told her friends that she had come there earlier under a different identity. That would have been impossible to explain...

"I wonder where their gardener went. Normally Mr. Agreste is in complete control of his surroundings and does not accept it to look filthy around here." The young woman said as she turned back to the door. The three turned to each other and shrugged in confusion, it had never taken this long before...

Marinette leans forwards and tries the handle, to her surprise it clicks.  
"It's open!" She states the obvious as they push open the front door and step inside. Marinette wrinkles her nose in disgust, the entire house smelt stuffy as if the windows had not been open for a long time. She could not believe that all of this had happened just because Adrien was missing. It was crazy! Insane!

"Oh wow." Alya says waving a hand in front of her face in amazement. "Yeah this place has seen better days. I can't believe that Gabriel Agreste would-"

"What Mr. Agreste does and doesn't do holds no concern for you." Nathalie said stepping down the staircase and adjusting her suit jacket while combing her hair back. She looked frazzled and exhausted with deep bags under her eyes and a colder expression on then usual. She glances between the three girls as if they grime beneath her fingernails. Kagami looks taken aback by this.

Or as taken aback as Kagami can ever look, after all Natalie had always treated her with nothing but overwhelming respect and good favor. So to have the older woman gaze down at her as if she had just walked in and spat in her face was a strange feeling.

"And you two are not permitted in here. I let Miss Kagami in out of good will. But I do not recall you two." She says glancing between Alya and Marinette.

"We were...sort...of...Hidiing behind her?Hehehe." Marinette chuckles out nervously rubbing the back of her head as she glances everywhere. The house had gotten dirtier since she last saw it as Ladybug. Which was incredible since it was only two people living here. Did they just have no sense of self preservation? No idea how to pick up after themselves? At all?

Marinette straightens her back as she notices Alya start to speak. Marinette quickly cut her bestie off. Not to be rude but because they had to get to the bottom of this fast.

"Please! We just need to look at Adrien's room. It's very important to us! We think that we might be able to-"  
"Is this some sort of Nancy Drew situation? Where you three solve the big mystery and save the day and catch the bad guy?" Natalie said rolling her eyes before gesturing upwards towards Adrien's room. "Because I can promise you that those do not happen in real life, but since you are here and the police have come through. I doubt that there is any harm in you three going into Adrien's room. Just make sure not to touch anything. Or take anything."

Alya glances at the secretary in surprise. Before looking at Kagami and Marinette, she felt like the be-spectactled woman was gazing directly at her. Alya frowned as she followed after the others.

Marinette came up short as they entered the room. She glances back and notices that Nathalie had not followed them in. Kagami breathes in deeply before shaking her head in disugst.

"USeless. This was a waste of time." She snaps. Marinette pushes in behind Kagami and forces back a swear at what she saw. The room was clean. Perfectly spotless. Not a single piece of furniture out of place. The window pane had been repaired, the bed straightened and the sheets changed. Everything looked like it belonged in the front window of a store as a model.

"This...this isn't right...no...no it was all..."Marinette glances at Kagami as the fencer walked in and kicked at one of Adrien's pinball games. Kagami's face was set, her eyes grim, her mouth tightening. Marinette could hear the girls teeth grinding.

"Hey. Kagami. It's okay." Marinette said walking over and placing a hand on Kagami's shoulder. The Japanese girl shrugged her off and marched over to Adrien's computer. She booted it up and then turned it off when the home screen came up. It was completely wiped.

"It's like he was never even here. It's like a fancy hotel room." Marinette said in amazement. Kagami's eyes close and she sighs and begins to breath calmly. Marinette goes to the top level of Adrien's room and tries to take a book off of the shelf. She pulls away a piece of paper wrapped around cardboard. It is as fake as the rest of the room.

"They must have replaced everything? But why?" Marinette said in confusion. She would have thought that a father would want to keep every last bit of his son. She couldn't imagine tossing out or replacing anything that her parents owned if they were just gone one day.

"It is all fake. A charade. He doesn't want a son. And he doesn't want this room to remind him of his son. He wants a place to pretend he has a son. He wants a place to pretend that he still has feelings. It's all just a show for people like us to come through." Kagami says as she stands up and walks out of the room. Marinette follows after her. Even if she did want something, which she didn't, she doubted that it was still there. Everything that Adrien owned had been replaced, and so soon after he disappeared. Marinette gulps nervously, it is nearly inhuman.

Nathalie is standing beside the front door and ushers the two girls out and down the steep marble steps. Kagami calls the car to her using her phone and the two get into the backseat. Kagami turns to face the window. Her frown deepening.

"What now? Where are we going?" Marinette asks. She can feel Tikki stirring in her purse, the Kwamii was napping to save some energy. Marinette had been moonlighting as Ladybug more and more often ever since Chat Noir had decided to go awol.

"Back to your house I assume. I am sorry for wasting your time." Kagami says formally as she holds her hands folded on her lap. Marinette blinks and glances back at the house.  
"No. I mean...What is our plan with the case? How are we going to find Adrien now?"  
"We probably are not. And it was foolish of us to ever think that two young girls could ever solve a mystery like this. It is foolish, I was foolish, and I am sorry for wasting your time. We should leave this to the professionals. I am sorry for wasting the last few days to weeks of your life and I wish you the best of luck in moving on from Adrien. The car will take us home now." Kagami said reaching forwards to press a few buttons on her cars screen.

"Whoa! Wait! What! Kagami no!" Marinette shouts leaning forwards and grabbing the other girls wrists. So soft and delicate, yet strong with a fire behind them.

"We can't quit now! We are so close!" Marinette said desperately, her mind racing for anything, any given clue. Kagami shook her head, Marinette just then realized how tired she looked. There were bags under her eyes, her hair while neat had a few small strands hanging up, and her clothes had the slightest hint of being recycled over and over again.

"Kagami? When was the last time you slept?" Marinette asks as delicately as she can. Kagami shakes her head in response. "Kagami...Have you been obsessing over this ever since Adrien was taken?"

Marinette asks as gently as she can, the car sat parked and running in front of the house. Nathalie frowns as she watches before turning on her phone.

"Sir, you might want to come down and see this." She spoke into it and wished that she had supersonic hearing.

"Kagami. This isn't healthy, you've been pushing yourself too much...You need a break. I'm sure that something will come to you, just relax your mind and give yourself some time off. It will all be okay if you just take it easy...in fact..." Marinette said with a grin. Kagami raises one perfect eyebrow before a bit of realization sets in.

"Wait before you finish that thought...Where is your friend Alya?"

Alya snuck down another corridor, she hugged the side of the wall and looked around quickly, she frowns and really wishes that there was a map of this place hanging up on the wall. The mansion had a lot more hallways then she expected, which made navigating the place much harder then anticipated.

"Mom?" Alya called out as she turned another corner, wondering where the heck the woman was. This was ridiculous, utterly ridiculous!

"God I'm starting to think like Chloe! Bleh!" Alya said gagging at the thought as she turned another corner and paused. She must have gone back a few hallways. Or backtracked. Because she was now inside of Gabriel's office. She glances around and notices his computer is up and running.

"I know I shouldn't...But he might have a map..." Alya said walking over and touching the screen. It remained dark for a few seconds. She glances down and sees the mouse. "Wow. Old School."

She boots the computer up and starts scrolling, the first thing that came up were files. The first file open had a picture of Nino on it.  
"What the? Easily manipulated, too empathetic, cares about Adrien...What is this?" She said her heart dropping as she gulps nervously. This was creepy. She clicks on another file that showed Alix. The picture was from the pink headed girls photo day. Alya could tell, she recognized Alix's hairstyle, photo day was one of the few days that Alix actually bothered to clean up for her dad.

"Low empathy, highly concentrated near emotionally vulnerable people, cares about justice." Alya mumbles out before she feels her heart beat rising. She thumbs through some more, there were files about every member of the class, and photos taken from their yearbooks. Detailed summaries about when they were akumatized and how that affected them. Even which ones had gone to therapy for it.

"Ivan, Mylene, Nathaniel, Sabrina..."Alya reads out trying to be careful about keeping all of the files in the right order. She finds another file directly behind them. This one had pictures of superheros on it. Old school ones that looked to be from ancient China or Egypt.

"Ladybug? Chat Noir...HAWKMOTH!" Alya gasps out covering her mouth. Why would Gabriel Agreste have copies of this sort of stuff? Unless...

"Do you have some sort of connection to them?" She said, all thoughts of her mother out of her mind, her reporter/detective brain was in full mode, trying to make connections and finding what was going on. She heard a clicking coming from behind her. Alya turned and yelped as the floor fell away in a neat hole. She quickly ran to the nearest doorway, in every comic book whenever the floor opened up it was wise to hide. She scoots down and peeks through the cracked doorway.

Hawkmoth stepped from the hole, glances down and growls.  
"I need to get more sleep, this is getting ridiculous." He said as he detransformed.

"Utterly ridiculous." Gabriel Agreste said as he hid his miraculous underneath his scarf and marched out of the room. Luckily through a different door. Alya stood up. Numb. Terrified. She walked out of the house, holding her forehead in confusion trying to make sense of all of the information.

The limo was outside. She walked down the steps and opened the door before climbing in. Still in shock.

"Oh good! We were just about to go looking for you." Marinette smiled at her best friend before wrapping her arms around Alya's shoulders. "I invited Kagami on the field trip tomorrow. Do you think Madame Bustier will mind? I think that it should be okay. Hey? Is everything alright? Did you find your mom?"

Marinette looks at Alya in concern. Alya's face was pale and her hands were shaking. She glances up at Marinette in confusion and blinks a few times.  
"Hmm? Oh...Yes. Everything...Is...just fine..."Alya trails off before turning to the window and putting her forehead against it. Smudging the glass. Her mind going a mile a minute.

In the kitchen Marlena sleeps in a chair. Her hair wild, her face smudged with spices and her hands numb from working all day. She only got a few hour breaks all day. And she normally slept through them.

**Review. I own nothing not even this computer.**


	18. Chapter 18

**I own nothing not even this computer. Review.**

Adrien grins as the white grease paint is smeared across his face. He wrinkles his nose at the smell and tries not to wriggle. He had had plenty of make up on his face before. But this stuff was cheap circus make up. It was little better then paint. Incredibly cheap lead based paint.

Larry frowns at him before shaking his head.  
"Blondie you've got to stop making faces if we want to get this done. I know you're excited but you can't let that show until you're in the ring." The lobster handed man said firmly as Adrien took a deep breath.

"Right. Sorry. I'm just nervous about going out there." He said as Larry dabbed one of his long fused fingers into a bit of green and started tracing around Adrien's eyes. Adrien closed them and waited patiently.

"Alright. That should do it for a dress rehearsal at least. Want to take a look?" Larry held up a mirror that was stained white and blue and green. Adrien raised an interested eyebrow in amazement. He hardley recognized himself. He had white around his chin which made him look like he had a beard. A thick slab of green circling his eyes and disguising his eyebrows, and a splotch of blue on his nose.

"Wow. I look like an actual clown!" Adrien chuckles and goes to touch his face. Larry's hand shot up and gripped his wrist before the lobster man tutted.

"Nope! Don't touch it! You'll smear that stuff and it will look like a mess!" Adrien nods in understanding before frowning for a second.

"Aren't I supposed to get lips? And shouldn't it be white across my entire face?" Adrien said gesturing to his bare forehead and neck. Larry shook his head.

"Not anymore. Clowning has changed since I started this racket. Only mimes are allowed to go full white grease paint. And no self respecting clown is permitted to have anything sharp on their faces. It's all circles and blunt corners. I don't know if you've been told but apparently clowns are 'creepy' and 'unnerving' to most kids these days." Larry said using air quotes with his claws.

"So this is supposed to calm them down?" Adrien asked gesturing.  
"We just gave you more white on because you're new and younger. It's easier to hide your face with. It makes your age harder to pin down. We really can't get in trouble with the cops for having young unskilled laborer's around. Now you ready for the show?"

Adrien nods eagerly before zipping his lips closed. Larry had told him earlier that clowns never spoke, it was just part of the fun. Adrien was wearing a pair of green baggy pants with black stripes and a bright red shirt with black polka dots and a garish green tie. His father would have a fit or a heart attack if he saw his son wearing such a horrifically designed outfit. Adrien loved it honestly. It was ridiculous and strange and made him feel more and more like a part of the circus.

He was determined to do right, he was determined to impress everyone during the rehearsal. He knew that the ringmaster was taking a bit of a gamble by putting him in without more training, and Adrien knew that it wasn't exactly typical for two newbies to be performing so soon.

But he was eager to prove himself and to show them all that he could give one hundred percent of himself to this team!

Adrien walked out with Larry into the main performance area. They stood in the wings, Larry's white hair had been disguised with a thick orange wig, his face was partially covered by a blue nose the size of a grapefruit and his hands were in thick orange gloves. He had thick shoes on with horns attacked to the bottom so he squeaked whenever he took a step.

Standing alongside them in the wings was Stretch who was in a small pink leotard and had a bit of a fat suit underneath his already impressive bulk so that he looked like a living whale, and Goldilocks who grinned and winked at him.

"Looking good kid!" She said shooting him a thumbs up as she got into a small clown car. Adrien had to resist the urge to laugh. She looked very very ridiculous, she was already a small woman so one of those cars were probably perfect for her.

The Ringmaster walked out into the middle of the three rings and raised his hands for silence to the imaginary audience. He still looked disheveled and greasy and suspicious looking. But Adrien had seen the strange sort of charm that he also held in his hands. He glanced around before grinning widely.

"Ladies and gentlemen, blach blah blach bleh blah! Etc! ETC! ETC!" He shouted the last few etc's with extra flourish before scratching at his gut and shrugging. "Well that's all I have. Remember people! Big smiles! And don't miss your cue! Music!" The ringmaster clapped his hands and the lights went out as an organ began to give a bouncy beat that filled up the entire big top. Adrien glanced at the three clowns who were stretching and holding balls in their hands. Larry got onto the hood of the small car that Goldilocks was driving and Stretch settled his impressive bulk onto the back, the small car dipped dangerously and Adrien half expected it to snap in half.

"Hope your legs are good kid." Stretch says before the car peeled out of the staging area and burst through the curtains. Adrien waited two seconds before he heard the car honking which was his cue to go sprinting out and waving his hands above his head like an idiot.

He sprinted behind the car as it drove in quick circles around the ring, Stretch smiles and waves demurely at Adrien as Adrien reached out trying to get his hands on the small car. He felt like he was actually getting better at this. He manages to jump and Stretch grips him underneath the arm pits and hoists him up far above his head.

Adrien kicks his legs and feels like he is a child, Stretch is so ridiculously large and bulky that he can lift the smaller blonde man up with no trouble. Adrien winces in anticipation as the car screeches to a halt and he goes flying out of the big mans hands. He rolls in midair and lands on his back going into a summersault that made it much easier to jump up from. The others got out of the car and he grabbed the next part of the act.

It was only when Adrien was beside Goldilocks and they were quickly running around with the cannon that was going to shoot Larry right in the face with confetti and cotton candy that he noticed that The Gorilla was in the audience. And the man was smiling.

Adrien pauses getting self conscious. He gazes up at the tall man who was watching along with other members of the circus, patiently waiting their turn. Adrien shakes his head and returns to the act, glancing at the audience a lot more now, trying to get a read on the man.

The Gorilla simply seemed to be enjoying himself, clapping when others laughed, nodding when Adrien moved to the right beats that the organ was still gayly playing. And wincing when Adrien took a blast from a pie that was shaped vaguely like an anvil. Adrien shook the whipped cream off of his face, it stuck to his hair and made him look vaguely like a snow man. And the Gorilla was still right there.

The Gorilla nodded and Adrien felt his grin stretch out so far that it threatened to tear his cheeks in half. By the end of the show when they were cleaning up their juggling balls, batons and chairs Larry nudged the younger man with a smirk.

"Not bad Blondie. Not bad at all. And it looks like the audience enjoyed themselves. Including your pops."  
"My Dad?" Adrien asked in confusion before realizing who the lobster handed man meant. Before he could explain himself and his relationship with the Gorilla Larry was already retreating to the washroom. Adrien grabbed a towel that had been prepped for the performers. He rubbed the grease paint, whipped cream and sweat off of his face. He smiles before rushing into the audience.

Hazel noticed him and raised a hand before gesturing to the empty seat beside her. Adrien joins her and glances around for the Gorilla. Seemingly reading his mind she pointed down towards the main ring.

"He's right there." She said. The Ringmaster had just finished another rather unimspiring speech to introduce the next performer. A few well trained gorilla's or just regular men in gorilla costumes brought on a large number of weights and a table with props on it. The Gorilla walked out and gazed around the audience, clearly unimpressed, his scowl was back and he had a fake scar across one eye. Probably to make him look more intimidating, something that he obviously did not need.

Adrien watched in shock as The Gorlla picked up a phone book and without any ceremony tore it in half. He held up the two even pieces and tossed them to either side of the ring. He then grabbed an iron poker.

His eyes bulged and his jaw began to grind as he bent the large piece of metal. It bent and then bent again until he was holding a pretzel made out of metal. The Gorilla held that aloft to show off his impressive muscles.

Adrien whistled and began to clap along with the rest of the audience. The Gorilla seemed to be getting a little smug, he actually smiled when Adrien began to applaud. He then walked to a basket and took out an apple. He tossed it into the audience. Hazel was the one who caught it and squeezed with one hand.  
"Definitely real!" She shouted down before tossing it back. The Gorilla took it in one paw and smashed it. Applesauce oozed between his thick fingers.

"That's impossible." Adrien said in amazement as he clapped again.  
"He sure is something else alright." Hazel agreed as The Gorilla finally got to the weights. The Ringmaster trotted back on, kicked one of the weights and winced.

"They're real!" He shouted before leaving The Gorilla's performing area. The Gorilla spat into his hands. Squatted and did a dead lift with no back support. And it looked like he wasn't even breaking a sweat.

The Gorilla paused when he heard some shouting and clapping. Adrien was standing and whistling encouragement the entire time. The Gorilla can't help but smile. He was glad that he had impressed the young man. He plopped the weight back down, the bar had bent a little. The Gorilla raised his fists and beat his chest with a snarl. Just for a bit of dramatic flair.

"Hey. Promise me that you will cheer that loudly when I go up. Got it?" Hazel said elbowing him playfully in the ribs before standing. It was her turn to shine. Adrien nodded as The Gorilla walked into the audince and plopped down beside Adrien wiping his brow with a cloth that was big enough to be a bath towel.

"That was incredible! You are going to knock them all dead!" Adrien said as The Gorilla smiled in response. He had once punched a man so hard in the face that that man had died. In fact he had murdered many men many times. He was glad that for once he would not have to do that.

"Hey...Are you okay?" Marinette asks Alya. The girl had been staring off into space all day, ignoring the teacher and not responding to anything. Marinette was almost afraid that her best friend was having an out of body experience. Alya blinks and glances over at Marinette. She bites her lips, her mind was racing, it was like a beehive of activity as she tried to make sense of what she had seen, make sense and fit it in with what happened to Adrien.

She had to tell someone right? The police? Her family? Her friends? Ladybug? But she also knew that she couldn't if her mom was still working for Gabriel Agreste, aka working for Hawkmoth then that meant she was more or less a hostage, if Alya went public then Marlena's life might be in jeporady.

Alya tried to think of something quick to ease Marinette's fears. But luckily for her she didn't have to.

"I think I know what's wrong." Marinette said smiling gently and pulling Alya in for a hug.  
"You-you do?" She asks nervously. People weren't entirely sure how Hawkmoth's powers worked, he might be able to hear and see everything, he might just be able to focus in on bad emotions. It was all very strange. She hoped that the next words out of Marinette's mouth would be something like

'I saw him detransform too'

Instead they were.

"I know how hard it is to be everyone's rock right now. You are helping Nino and me out so much. It means the world to us both. But it's okay. You can be sad and concerned too. You don't always have to put on a brave act for the two of us." Marinette said pulling away. Alya was speechless and then just nodded and smiled.

"Yep! That is exactly what I am concerned about! You and Nino! Nothing else! Nothing at all wrong in the world but worrying about you two! HAHA!" Alya said clearly forcing a laugh. She hated lying. Not telling Adrien that Marinette had a crush on him wasn't lying it was just omission of the truth. But this, this was clearly a big fat white lie.

Marinette smiles softly and hugs Alya again.  
"You are the best Alya. We all just need a break. I'm sure that we will get one soon."

**I own nothing not even this computer. Review.**


	19. Chapter 19

**Review. I own nothing. Not even this computer.**

"Does everyone have a partner? Good. Now we will meet back at the busses in an hour and a half. Don't wander off and remember that this is supposed to be a fun day!" Madame Bustier announced to the students as they exited the state of the art bus. Nino kicked a clod of dirt in response as he side eyed the teacher.

The class was uneven with Adrien missing. There were now a few groups of three. Such as Nino, Alya and Marinette who were all paired together. Other classes had come along with their own which was lucky for Nathaniel and his boyfriend since they were paired together. And were instantly setting off towards the ferris wheel which was arguably the most romantic spot at any circus ever.

"So...Where did you say we were going to meet up with Kagami?" Alya asked Marinette. Marinette glances between her two friends. They were acting weird. Incredibly weird. Sure she was not too happy herself ever since Adrien had disappeared, but Nino was acting like his entire world had ended and that we was going to die alone. He had been moping and giving everyone the silent treatment. It had gotten so bad that the entire class was worried about him.

And Alya had been avoiding eye contact with everyone, fiddling with her thumbs and her phone. Which wasn't too weird since she was normally always on her phone. But it was weird since she did not seem to want to gush about her latest obsession or fixation. Marinette honestly felt like she was out of her depth with both of them.

"We were going to meet at the entrance, and knowing how punctual she is she should be arriving right about- Now." Marinette said with a smug little smile as the red limo pulled up and deposited the young adult in front of them. Marinette cursed herself for a second the moment that she saw the look on Kagami's face. That was not a happy look, or even the Japanese girls content look. That was Kagami's absolutely miserable look. Marinette had memorized them since Kagami had such a strict range of facial expressions that they were normally incredibly limited.

"Marinette. Alya. Nino Lahiffee." Kagami spoke to each of them with a formal nod of her head. Marinette smiled as best she could. She felt a strange tickling in the back of her head and wondered why. It was Nino who figured it out.

"This is the same circus that we came to with Adrien. The last time we were here he was also here." The bummed out dude said kicking at another piece of trash that the wind kicked by. Marinette stopped to think and then facepalmed. Of course! That was why this all felt so familiar! That was why this was all so weird! Adrien! He should have been there with them!

"Correct. I remember that night fondly." Kagami said touching her lips for a second before lowering her hands again. It had been quick, almost as if she had slapped her chin very quickly and then thought better of it. Marinette took a deep breath and glanced around at the small group of friends.

"Well? Are we going to go in there or stand around here feeling sorry for ourselves?" Marinette said with as much gusto as she could manage.  
"Stand around here and feel sorry for ourselves?" Nino snarked. Kagami nodded in agreement.  
"I'm all for that plan." Alya agreed as she checked her phone for the sixtieth time that morning.

"Nope! We are going to go in there! Eat some over priced deep fried food ride on old rides that are probably super dangerous and watch people perform back breaking stunts that are impressive yet concerning!" Marinette said before clapping her hands together. "Now let's do this!"

Alya smiles softly before shaking her head.  
"Girl you are something else." She mumbles as she starts heading in. Nino and Kagami following after her. Marinette opens up her purse to look down at Tikki who is shrugging in response to the anticipated question.

"Well it wasn't the worst speech in the world. But you do sort of forget that you're all probably going to be traumatized by the time this is all over." Tikki rightfully pointed out. Marinette frowned down at the small red and black creature in irritation.  
"You're no help." Marinette mumbles before reaching past Tikki to grab some money for a nearby stand. They were serving churros, and Marinette wanted to get her freaking churro on.

"They're here Plagg!" Adrien whispered to the small black creature floating on his shoulder.  
"Looks that way." Plagg responded as he deposited another chunk of cheap circus cheese down his expansive stomach. Adrien grins sadly as he watches their backs as the quartet make their way into the circus grounds.  
"Do they look happy to you? I mean Marinette looks like she is trying her best to be happy." Adrien said nervously as he taps his chin. He had on large fake sunglasses and an orange wig. As disguise's went it was actually pretty good, but he still felt like someone might recognize him if he wasn't careful.

"I couldn't tell you. What do you think?" Plagg asks snarkily as Adrien began to ease out of his hiding place behind a tent and start walking down the main walkway. Tents, fried food, and the smell of cotton candy clouded the air. Adrien followed after the four of them at a slow pace, just managing to keep them all in sight. He had never seen the circus this busy before. Except for maybe when he was a customer. But now he had an entirely new way to look at it.

He felt lucky, not a lot of people got to see a circus from two points of view, as a worker and as a customer. He pauses beside the entrance to the hall of mirrors and glances back at his friends. He had to get their attention! He had to say goodbye somehow!

Or at least one of their attention. Adrien grabs a ring from a nearby ring toss and nods gratefully to the worker there. They new a carnie when they saw one. Adrien took careful aim and let the ring fly.

Nino was going around the corner still pouting and dragging his feet. Marinette was trying to get everyone excited about the field trip, which must be rough on the poor girl. She was always so optimistic and tried to constantly raise everyone's spirits...Nino felt like a real jerk for not even putting in any effort. But he was just too sad! His best bro was missing!

Marinette had grabbed Alya and Kagami's hands and pulled the two squawking girls down the aisle towards a game that involved winning overpriced stuffed animals that would probably be adorable as heck in Alya's room. But Nino didn't think he could get interested enough.

A round metal ring bopped into the back of his head and made him pause and turn around with a frown. He rubbed the back of his head and ground his teeth.  
"KIM! If this is some dumb prank I am seriously going to beat you back into the nineties bro!" Nino snapped, his fists up, he didn't care if he got in trouble for fighting he hadn't slept in days, he was nauseous and he was pissed off!

He paused. A clown was waving at him. But a very very...recognizable clown...Maybe it was the way he waved, or the way that he stood, or even just the way his eyes brightened up when he noticed Nino looking at him. But whatever it was, probably a combination of all of these things, that caused Nino to freeze. Rub his eyes. And then step forwards.

"Adrien? Bro?" He says breathlessly as the clown nodded and pointed towards the hall of mirrors before sprinting in. Nino sprinted down the strip of grass, past the tents, past the usher and tossing a few tickets at him without even bothering to stand in line or to stop. Nino runs rapidly through the doorway and runs face first into a mirror. He moans and pulls back, rubbing at the smudge that is forming.

He groans and glances to his left, and sees another mirror.

"Rats! Adrien! You in here dude!" Nino called out before stepping deeper into the maze. The place felt weird, it didn't help that the floors moved every which was and he would find himself going past another mirror and still another.

"ADRIEN!" Nino cried out rubbing his eyes. There were some tears prickling there. He chuckles in amazement. When had he started crying.  
"Hey Nino." A voice said softly from behind him. Nino spun around and saw him. The head was bald and he was holding a orange wig, his face was covered in make up and he had some bicep action going on. And the clothes looked absolutely insane. But Nino recognized his best buddy in the whole wide world instantly.

"Adrien." Nino says as he lets the tears fall. He sprints forwards. The clowns eyes widen and he holds up his hands.  
"Nino! Wait!" Nino runs face first into the mirror and bounces back with a moan holding his nose and face.

"Oh man! Are you okay?" The Adrien reflection asks guiltily as it moves forwards and then pauses. Nino glances up and just sees an ocean of Adrien. All of the faces were concerned. But he couldn't tell who was the real one.  
"Adrien? Bro? Where are you? What's happening bro?" Nino got up and leaned against a mirror as the Adriens all looked guilty and sadly studied their feet.

"This is goodbye Nino. I'm sorry that I couldn't have been a better friend. But I am leaving now. Forever. It's not my choice but..." The Adrien's all stop talking and rub at their eyes. Nino spins around in a tight circle, trying desperately to find the real Adrien to pick out the mirrors from the original. But it was just more and more confusing. He rubbed his head. He worried that he had a concussion.

"Adrien? What are you talking about bro? What do you mean leave? Why are you leaving us? Who is making you leave?" Adrien smiles sadly.

"I wish that I could tell you, but I can't. It is too dangerous. I just want you to know that I am sorry. And that you are my best friend and will always be my best friend. And I want you to know that I will try to get back to you guys one day. But I can't right now. I just want you to know that I am safe. And that I am sorry. Please. Tell everyone. The class, Kagami, Marinette, everyone that cares about me. That I am sorry."

Adrien's clowns all turned away from Nino. Nino took a step forwards and froze in place. A pair of arms wrapped around his body and hugged him tightly.  
"Goodbye Nino. Thank you for being my friend." Adrien whispered into his ear before giving it a little kiss and stepping back.

Nino whirled around and ran at the first mirror that he saw. It shattered when he hit it. Nino came down hard and gasped, he glanced around but the entire maze seemed empty. There were mirrors everywhere, leading nowhere. It was just him, alone, in a massive field of broken mirror pieces.

"Adrien!" Nino shouted helplessly. "BRO! ADRIEN!"

He got up and ran with his hands outstretched searching fruitlessly, his hat fell off, his glasses fell off, and he was certain that he lost a shoe. But he ran on deeper into the maze. Desperate to find his bro.

"Wow. That was pretty cold of you." Plagg said in amazement as Adrien crawled out of the secret underground escape hatch, there was a trap door built in every one of the fun houses and tents in the circus. Adrien had been shown them by Hazel a few days back.

"Don't. Please Plagg. Just don't." Adrien said softly as he stood up and wiped his face, there were tears and sweat griming him up. He sighs before he starts walking towards the big top.  
"It's almost time for the clowns to go on. And I need to look happy for everyone." He said as he sniffed along. Plagg floated beside him before floating off back towards the ring.

Nino is curled up on the floor holding his ticket stub. It wasn't fair! He had just found Adrien again! He couldn't lose him! But it felt like the entire weight of the world was pushing him down and he couldn't move, he couldn't get up. But he had to find him!

Across Paris in a small hide out. A massive window opened and Hawkmoth breathed in in delight.

"Ah yes. Finally! My patience has paid off! The perfect victim for my akuma!" He said ripping a butterfly out of the air and infecting it with his evil before sending it on it's way. He closed his eyes and followed it's progress over the city, through the alley's until it reached the circus ground, circled high above the milling crowds before zeroing in on it's location.

It slowly began to float downwards, slipped between the cracks of the funhouse and alighted on the ticket stub. Nino's eyes opened with an overwhelming blaze.

"Tracker, I am Hawkmoth, I am giving you the ability to find the one that you have lost. In return for this glorious ability you will give me something that rightfully belongs to me. The miraculous of Chat Noir and Ladybug. Do we have a deal or will you remain in this twisting maze forever?"

Nino sat up, his eyes were red from crying, his teeth ground together.  
"We have a deal."

Alya paused outside the doors to the big top and glanced back over her shoulder. The wind had just picked up and she shivered. She wondered where her boyfriend was. Normally Nino would be all over her putting his arms around her, teasing her about forgetting a jacket even though he wouldn't have one either. She frowned.

"Alya? Are you coming in?" Marinette called to her best friend. She and Kagami were already half way down the main hallway. "The show is going to start soon."

"I'll be there. It's just...Where's Nino?" Alya said worry clear in her voice. She gulps. The knowledge of a supervillains secret identity mixed with a missing Adrien and now a missing Nino? She didn't like this.

Alya didn't like any of this at all.

**Review. I own nothing not even this computer.**


	20. Chapter 20

**Review. This and my other stuff and I will update more often. I own nothing not even this computer.**

Alya bounces her leg as she glances at Marinette out of the corner of her eyes. She knew that her friend was going through some stuff. Marinette wasn't the best at hiding stuff. But when she did hide her emotions Alya had to give the girl credit, Marinette was able to hide her emotions well.

Which was unnerving since Alya had her own secret. And she hated keeping secrets. Especially this one. But it was a dangerous secret. One that might just hurt everyone involved. She gulps and glances at the circus rings as the short greasy man chewed the scenery. He was really taking his time down there. It was actually getting boring.

Someone in the audience began to snore. The ringmaster frowned and took off a shoe before tossing it at the guy knocking him awake. Alya sat upright. Jolted like the guy who had just taken a shoe to the head. She shook her own head. This place felt very very different in the daytime. The circus had just had a bunch of rides and attractions and greasy food stands open when the gang of friends had attended a few nights ago.

But apparently they had the big top open for shows.

Marinette smiled and tried to keep on smiling. She couldn't let her friends know just how distraught she was feeling on the inside. She felt like something was tearing at her heart with long thick fingernails trying to rip it out and stomp on it. She had to be strong for them. She could tell that Alya was hurting, and that Kagami was hurting even harder.

If Marinette had to keep her own emotions and feelings of sorrow shoved deep down and ignore them as much as possible then she would do it. She sighs as she watches the circus show. Not really paying attention. Sure the animals were cool and talented. And the sword eater was weirdly charming. But she couldn't begin to pay attention. Or even pretend to pay attention.

"Marinette." Alya said elbowing her friend and turning to her nervously. "I've got to tell you something. Something really important. It's about...you know who." Alya said nervously. Marinette turned to her friend in confusion. She had never seen Alya look so...so...nervous?

"What is it?" Marinette asked leaning forwards. The ringmaster had reentered the center ring to get everyones attention. By blowing a french horn.

Then the lights dimmed and a honking noise filled the air. The clowns were starting to come out.

"Where have you been?" Larry the lobster handed man hissed at Adrien as he got there. Grass stains across his shirt and his make up smudged. His lipstick looked like he had kissed someone or something. Adrien was about to answer before taking a deep breath.

"I'm sorry. It doesn't matter. Let's just do this." He said turning to look at the small car that Stretch was politing. Goldilocks and stretch exchanged confused looks before Larry just shrugged and rubbed Adrien's partially shaved head for luck.  
"Alright. Just don't forget your cue. We got one shot at this. I'm sure that you'll be great." Adrien nodded and focused his attention back to the car.

Stretch put on a large goofy grin before the curtain was pulled back sharply and he drove his car honking and blaring through them. The music picked up tempo and Adrien found himself taking large exaggerated steps out of the hiding place and following afterwards waving his hands above his head like a weirdo and making distressed honking noises.

Stretch and Goldilocks made it into the center ring where they began going in quick circles with Larry clambering on and off of the back. Goldilocks was trying to spray seltzer water in front of them and into the 'gas tank' really a fake nozzle section to make the car go faster. Adrien found himself attempting to hoist Larry onto the back of the car.

His hands slipping on the older mans back. Adrien had never performed as a clown in front of an audience. He was honestly loving all of the laughter echoing around him. He felt like he was in the middle of the world, and the entire world was applauding for him. He chanced a moment to glance at the audience, just a quick peek. He knew that as a performer he had to keep it entirely natural and not address them or else risk breaking the illusion. But he couldn't help himself.

He glanced to the side and stumbled to a stop. Larry half on the car and getting dragged along kicking and yowling in mock pain. Adrien gazed up at the section of audience he had come to a stop in front of and cursed himself. He cursed his muscles for not moving. He cursed his legs for being frozen. He cursed himself for not having throught this through.

He mostly cursed the genius who thought bringing a class to a circus would be a good idea. He stared directly up at his class as they sat watching the show. Most of them were transfixed if looking a little uninvested. After all their friend had disappeared and was probably off somewhere far far away.

Adrien gazed around in amazement. There was Max and Kim who was scarfing down popcorn. Ivan and Mylene were cuddling, her eyelids were puffy. Rose and Juleka were watching and Rose winced every time that Larry fell off of the car. Alix was leaning back too cool to care about anything. Chloe was seated on a silk blanket that she was definitely going to throw out the moment that she left the circus, it probably cost more then the circus made in a month. Sabrina was sneaking nibbles of some deep fried garbage that the circus was serving. Chloe didn't like to see her friend enjoy commoner food.

Sitting near the top row were Alya who looked amazingly concerned and distracted by something, seemingly ready to start saying something. Madame Bustier who was giggling along to the show. And his eyes finally fixed on Marinette and Kagami. Adrien felt like the entire world had gone dark and there were only two lights shining. One on him and one on them.

An echo began to sound deep in his head.

Choose.

Choose!

CHOOSE!

"I've got to choose." Adrien mumbled to himself. He had to choose someone right? He had to choose something right?

A friend. A girlfriend. A life.

He had to finally make a decision in his life.

Adrien shook his head and yelped as he jumped to the side as the tiny car piloted by Stretch nearly ran him down. Larry was on the back and heaved him on with an exaggerated scowl. He slapped Adrien across the back of the head hard enough to sting.

"I know it's your first night and all but keep with the script!" The lobster handed old man snarled as they continued to fly around the ring. Adrien blinks and looks back at the couple of girls who were seated beside each other on the bench.

Marinette was leaning forwards and watching the car with wide eyes. He never knew that she was into clowns. Adrien blinks as the car came to a sudden shuttering stop and he was launched out with a yelp over the top of Stretchs head. Adrien turned it into a sommersault mid air and landed with his hands up and began to bow. Only to get seltzer sprayed directly on his back.

He jumped over dramatically and yelped as his hair bounced off of his head. He leaned down to grab his wig only to find it tumbling out of his hands. He walked forwards trying to pick it up but kept on kicking it since it was much funnier to do so. The audience apparently agreed since they were all laughing as he walked off stage after his wig. Adrien paused with a sigh off stage and gathered himself to run back out with the batons for the juggling section, along with a stuffed rooster and a sword.

"Hey. Listen to me." Hazel snapped out coming out of the shadows glowering. Which was apparently her default expression. Adrien winced waiting for the hammer to fall.  
"I know that I froze out there. It's just that-"

"You're doing alright. Everyone gets the first night jitters. But they are loving it. If you keep this up we will make a real clown out of you in no time. Now hurry up and get out there again. I'm waiting for my cue to come on and sneak up to the tight rope." She said pushing him back on with a grin.

Adrien paused for a second before smiling back and skipping out holding the equipment for the next part of the clowns section of the show. He glanced around with wide glancing circles, his sopping wet hair was dripping against his grease paint and smearing it, but he wasn't too concerned. You would have to notices the craziest things to see his face from the audience.

"No way. How is it possible?" Marinette gasps out covering her mouth. Her eyes widen and water as she recognizes the clown running around down in the ring. She stands up sharply as the clowns take a bow and start to depart back to the backstage.  
"Marinette? Where are you going?" Kagami asks as the young lady starts walking purposefully off of the bleachers.

"I've got to go do something! It will be quick!" Marinette attempted to assure her as she almost began running.  
"Marinette! Wait! I have to talk to you about something!" Alya says desperately as Marinette just grins helplessly.

"We can talk when I get back I've just got to go and do something really really fast!" She said. And just like that, even before Madame Bustier could insist that she bring a partner with her, Marinette was down the stairs and ducked around the corner. She weaved along the edge of the three rings and glanced around quickly. There were a lot of people milling around the curtains leading to the backstage staging area. Marinette didn't have time to explain herself. So she just ducked out of the big top and started sprinting towards where she guessed they would be.

Marinette glanced around before quickly wiggling under the tent. She stood up and winced when she hit a small chest of drawers. Yelping she stumbled over them and landed face first on a pile of dirty towels, jumped up and stumbled backwards into a large rack of assorted dresses and costumes for the performers to use. She groans as she sits up.

She peeps as she realizes that there are people coming. She can hear them moving from behind a small fake wall that had been made out of what looked like cardboard and a lot of duct tape.

Marinette ducked back into the costume rack and glanced out through the bottom, some scratchy wool and glitter unitard dug into her face as she gazed out waiting and watching. And then the clowns entered.  
"Not half bad Blondie." The fat man said as he rubbed the shortest and youngest clowns head affectionately. The clown chuckled and an older couple walked in. The man pulled off his gloves and Marinette had to hold back a gasp. His fingers were fused and malformed, they resembled lobster claws. The other person was a woman, although it took Marinette a moment to realize that since the woman had a thick curly golden beard. That looked way too real to be fake.

Marinette gazed in amazement as they all congratulated this 'Blondie' on a job well done. Blondie pulled off his wig, grabbed a towel and cleaned off his face and smiled radiantly. Even with the new haircut Marinette instantly recognized Adrien. It was impossible not to.

"No way." Marinette mumbles in amazement before yelping as the rack she was leaning on fell over. She tumbles out and grabs the first hand offered to her. SHe grabs it and only when she stands and glances at the face does she recognize whose it is.  
"Marinette." He gasps out in shock. His jaw dropping and the blood draining from his face.  
"Adrien."

"No way." Kagami mumbles as she sits on the edge of her seat. She recognizes the man in the middle of the floor. He is holding his hands above his head and waving them in powerful defiance. He finally grabs the massive chain at his feet and starts to strain and pull, pulling harder and harder until a massive snap fills the ring. The crowd goes wild as the strong man poses with the two shattered edges of chain in hand.

He smiles powerfully and starts to exit. It was the cool calculating stare that never left his face that tipped her off. It was a stare that said he could destroy you and everyone and everything that you care about with his bare hands. And she believed it. Kagami stood up sharply and without a second word departed from her seat.

"Wait! Kagami!" Alya snaps out crawling after the girl and trying to grab her attention. Alya sighs and rubs her forehead in irritation. First Nino ditches them, then Marinette goes awol and then suddenly Kagami decides to what? Go and use the bathroom or something?

Alya had no idea what was going on! Or where all of her friends were going! She just knew that she had to think of something quick! She had to find a way to tell the truth to someone! Get some sort of allies or else she was totally toast! Her mom was probably still in danger back at that crazy mansion! And Alya had no idea what to do! She felt helpless! Hopeless! She felt downright pathetic.

Then a massive howl went up outside of the tent just as the tightrope walker had taken her first step. She paused and glanced around in confusion. The side of the tent was torn open and something with a long thin snout sort of shaped like a radar dish stuck its way through. The entire class instinctively froze as they instantly recognized what was beyond the wall.

"It figures. Our class has a history for this sort of thing." Max sighs adjusting his glasses and glancing around at everyone. "Does anyone recall making any poor life choices recently?"

The entire class turned to glance at Chloe who was playing on her phone. SHe glances up in confusion before glancing towards the torn open tent.

"Oh puh-leeze! Don't even think about blaming that on me! I haven't even done anything recently!" She snaps out before going back to her phone without a care in the world.  
"Alright, everyone knows the drill. Find your buddy and scatter for cover." Madame Bustier sighs as she gets into a good hiding position and starts counting heads. Then counts them again.

"And we are missing so...so many students." She sighs out. "Why does this always happen to my class? Are we jinxed or something? There has got to be a jinx or something."

The creature behind the tent howled and started rampaging towards the other side as the entire class sat still and listening.

The Gorilla paused halfway down the hallway. He felt a prickle in the back of his neck. He could tell. Something was wrong. And he knew that he had to do three things. Get the ring. Get Adrien. And get out of there. Hawkmoth had found them. And he was mad.

**Review. I own nothing not even this computer. Faster updates if faster reviews especially for my less popular stuff like the steven universe story.**


	21. Chapter 21

**I own nothing not even this computer. Review.**

"Blondie...I mean...Adrien...Do you know this girl?" Goldilocks asks in confusion. Marinette takes a step further into the tent. Closer to the blonde young man. Adrien steps back nervously. He knows that he is probably already taking a risk by talking to her and not running away right this very second. But she looks so happy to see him. So relieved. He feels his own relief start to build up, threatening to overflow at any second.

"I...I Marinette?" Adrien stumbles out as she nods.  
"Adrien...You're okay. You've been here this entire time? We were so worried!" She says walking forwards and throwing her arms around Adrien with a sniffle. She grips him hard and a few sobs actually come up. She had no idea that she had missed him this much! Of course she knew that she loved him...but this felt so much deeper then love, it felt like a paper cut on her heart. And it had just now stopped hurting.

"Marinette..."Adrien grumbles as he rubs her back with a smile. He had just seen her in the audience. But it felt so good, so relaxing, and so so so comforting to actually hold another member of his class. He felt tiny prickles at the back of his eyes. But he kept them back, he didn't want to start sobbing in front of his new friends after all.

"We can...ahem. We will just leave you two alone for a little while. Be right back." Stretch says as he ushers the others out of the tent. Larry pauses for a second and points threateningly at Marinette and Adrien.

"Hey Blondie guests aren't supposed to be back here! This is a room for circus performers only! So get her out! Now!" He said sternly. But not altogether unkindly. He was just following the rules of the circus. Adrien held his hand up with a grin.

"Of course! I will explain a few things to her and then she will be leaving." Adrien said breathlessly. Marinette had her hands balled into fists against his chest and looked at him suspicously.  
"She will be leaving? I think you mean we will be leaving." She said warningly. Adrien just gazed down at her with a sad little half smile. She was then sudden;y aware of just how close the two of them were. She took a step back, his hands rested on her elbows and kept her right within grabbing distance. Adrien looked slightly brusied and beaten up, he was stronger though, she noticed muscles starting to stand out on his arms. But his hair was a wreck, his arms were brusied and the make up made him look absolutely horrific. She didn't know whether he looked like a clown or a victim of domestic assault.

"Adrien...What's going on?" Marinette asks she felt her heart starting to sink as he holds her hands for a second.  
"Blondie. Please call me Blondie. That's the name that I have to go as around here. And Marinette it is so good to see you. You have no idea how much I miss you guys. But I told Nino to say good bye for me." He said shaking his head.

'Choose' echoes through Adrien's head as Marinette's eyes widen and water in confusion.

"Blondie? That seems a little...simple right? I mean who came up with that? And what happened to your hair? Have them been...Adrien have them been hurting you here?" She whispers glancing at the door nervously. They could still be standing out there waiting for her to come out. They might do something to Adrien while she is gone, something that he isn't permitted to talk about.

"Hurting me? NO! Oh! Wow! No!" He said quickly shaking his head. He raises his arms with a goofy grin "I'm a performer! It's fantastic! I wish that I could tell jokes or something while out there but I am also totally fine just you know doing tricks and stuff. People love it! And the people here are amazing! It's been wild! Although I'm a little confused about a few things. Like what you're doing here. And how you recognized me. I thought that my disguise was pretty good." He says as more of the wet grease paint falls down his face.

Marinette chuckles then laughs out loud, nearly bending in half at the absurdity of the situation. Here she was in the arms of the boy that she loved, and he was dressed up like a clown and performing with a bunch of circus freaks even though he had been kidnapped! This was the strangest kidnapping case she had ever seen! The strangest that possibly anyone had ever seen!

"I know I shouldn't laugh! I'm sorry! It's just...pffft!" Marinette snorts out rubbing her eyes as a few more tears, confused and nervous and overjoyed that he wasn't hurt came all at once.  
"What is happening? Who are those people? Have you been here this entire time? Wait! Never mind! You can tell me all about this once we get back to the others." Marinette says taking his hand and starting to walk out of the tent. Adrien comes to a screeching halt and shakes his head. Marinette attempts to pull him along, ignoring the fact that he is dressed like a clown, ignoring the fact that she is holding hands with the love of her life while he is dressed like a clown, and ignoring the fact that Adrien didn't seem all that distressed for someone who had just been kidnapped and was now being saved.

"I...Marinette I can't see the class." Adrien says nervously as he rubs the back of his head. Marinette pauses and turns with a confused expression on her face. "What?"

"I'm sorry. I can't explain it, I don't think that I even know all the details myself. But it's just not safe for me to go out there. I want to see everyone so much. I want to explain exactly what happened. But I just can't. I'm sorry. I hope that you can at least tell everyone what happened and that you and Nino will tell everyone how much they mean to me." Adrien says with his hands up as if he half expects her to start screaming and throwing things at him.

Marinette blinks in confusion. She shakes her head.

"I...Adrien I don't understand. Do you know what's going on out there? What's happening with you gone?" She says as he shakes his head. "You've been missing for days! The entire city is on lockdown looking for you! Everyone is so worried! We've been searching high and low. Everyone thinks that you're in people think that you're dead! I mean your body guard kidnapped you! And you're just here? Hiding out? What is happening? Please you can tell all of us once we know that you are safe and sound." Marinette was close to tears. Begging him to come with her.

Adrien blinks in surprise at her words. Blinks in surprise at the tone of her voice. Blinks at the strange thumping in his chest that was geting harder and harder. He felt like a hand was gripping it firmly and squeezing it in time with some invisible rythm.

"Choose. Choose. Choose. Choose. Choose. Choose." The ryhtm went over and over again. Adrien rubs his eyes, streaking some more of the grease paint.

"I don't know anything about being 'kidnapped' all I know is that I woke up here and that my bodyguard told me this is the only place where I would be safe."  
"From what? Or who?" Marinette says as she takes his hands. "Adrien. How is that not the very definition of you know...kidnapping? Or gaslighting? You need to come home. We need to get you safe."

"It seems like everyone wants me to do something, but no one will actually explain what's going on." Adrien says with a edge in his voice. Marinette steps back, her face flushing. SHe didn't know if it was in anger or frustration. But she felt like he was being incredibly unreasonable.

"Adrien! I told you! you were kidnapped! Most people think that you're probably half way across the ocean in an oil barrel! Or dead at the bottom of a ditch! Or holed up in some sort of dungeon getting tortured every single day! But you're here! And you're safe! And I was so worried! And so was Kagami and we searched everywhere for you! And...and! ANDANDANDAND!" Marinette said as she began to breath harder and faster. Her eyes widening as she had a panic attack, her mind dancing through all of the horrible possibilities that could have happened to him.

Sure he was standing in front of her, safe, sounds, actually looking better then ever. But she couldn't help but think that maybe just maybe she was going crazy and just seeing things and talking to someone that wans't there because she was so scared of him being gone!

"Hey...Marinette...breath...It's okay. Everything is okay. I'm not in a basement. I'm not in an oil barrel. I'm not dead in a ditch. I'm here. I'm safe. You're safe. Everyone is fine." Adrien said taking her hands and squeezing.

Choose. Went his heart as he blushes. She sure was cute up close. Her eyes were bright and lively, her hair glossy and black like the night sky. He gulps wondering why his heart was beating so fast.

"I know. I know that everythings fine. But please...you need to come with me. We all need to know that you're okay. Chloe is probably freaking out even more then I am." Marinette says with a chuckle and shook her head. Chloe had been going nuts over the past few days, it was probably the only proof that the manipulative psycho had a heart.

"I can't. Marinette I wish that I could-"Adrien began starting to get frustrated. He felt like he was going around and around in a circle here. He would say something she wouldn't listen and so on. A loud bang stopped him from going any further though. Followed by screams and the sound of running feet. Adrien and Marinette exchange a look before glancing out the tent doorway and seeing a large peanut cart getting tossed down the faire way. People running and screaming as they sprint this way and that way.

There was only one thing that could cause this much chaos in so little amount of time and so little warning. It wasn't a madman, it wasn't a natural disaster. It was a supervillain.

"Akuma!" Marinette and Adrien snap at the other at the same time. Marinette's hand clasped Adrien's wrist and yanked him behind her. She began sprinting deeper into the forest of tents. Her feet moving her confidently even if she didn't entirely know where she was going. She sprints around a small monkey running past with a chess set, a ring that was on fire swirled past, and finally a small grubby little person dressed in a fire breather suit. Marinette felt like she was down a rabbit hole and somewhere in wonderland. It was all madness! Utter and complete madness!

"This is-and I hate that I'm quoting her here-ridiculous! Utterly ridiculous!" Marinette says as she races past the same tent three times. Adrien smiles before he runs up beside her, finally keeping pace and not taking that moment to check out how cute she looks from behind. How powerful, how oddly familiar. As if he had followed her lead thousands of times before.

"Don't worry Marinette. I know my way around here. And I have just the place." He said winking at her before pulling her through a tent and down a quick alley away from the akuma. Marinette bites her lips, she needs to find a secret place to transform. Someplace private, someplace that would-She feels around her side for her purse and gulps in fear. Her purse was gone. Which meant that Tikki was gone. Which meant that she couldn't transform. She cursed to herself silently as Adrien rounds another corner and glances around. His eyes light up the moment that he sees the cannon. He sprints for it his long legs eating up the distance.

"Here! The human cannonball trick cannon! It can fit you safely!" Adrien says opening the secret hatch that the human cannonball always slips into. MArinette glances around, they were in the main circus tent now. She could see the benches, all of the trash that people had dropped when they ran away to find hiding spots or to evacuate...And she spots it! Right beneath the main stage! Hidden by a half open carton of candy! Her purse! Now she just had to get to it!

"But where will you hide?" She asks before Adrien smiles reassauringly at her.

"Don't worry there are plenty of places to-" He is cut off as he hears a loud long roar that fills the entire tent and rattles the cloth like some sort of strange bellow from a roid filled elephant. Adrien is cut off by Marinette grabbing him by the shirt collar of his ridiculous costume and pulling him into the cannon with her and slamming the compartment closed behind him.

"This is uh..." Adrien stutters out nervously as she puts a finger to her lips while blushing deeply.  
"I KNOW! NOW HUSH!" She scolds as she holds her breath trying not to think about how close she was to Adrien's chest, his biceps, his powerful arms and gorgeous chiseled jaw. How even though he has that paint and some sort of perfume on she can still totally smell the scent that is pure and utterly Adrien beneath it all. She gulps and tries to look anywhere that isn't directly at Adrien. Adrien for his part is holding his hands upwards, aware that he can feel her wrists and her elbows against him.

She is all gangle knees and calloused fingers from working, yet still so petite. He gulps and glances upwards feeling like he would be doing something indecent by looking at the top of her head. He had no clue why. After all this was Marinette for goodness sake! He should just relax and enjoy being so close to a good friend.

A crash came from inside of the tent. A loud snuffling and then it slowly eased away, following some invisible trace. The two let out eager gasps before Adrien shimmied around and presses against the cannon door and slips out. He glances around before glancing back.

"It's dangerous for both of us to be hiding in the same place. I'll catch up with you soon Marinette. But I think we should hide in different places okay?" He said with a reassauring smile. Marinette blushes and nods, Adrien turns to leave and she holds a hand out to him.

"ADRIEN!" She calls out, he turns and looks over his shoulder.  
"Don't disappear again. Please. We need you. I need you." She says insistnetly. Adrien gazes at her and nods, it takes all his might to do it. In the back of his head he hears someone saying something.

'Liar. Liar. Liar.'

"Of course. Once this is all over I will explain everything." He turns and sprints off hoping that his tone was good enough. He can't see her again, he can't explain himself. He can't put the class in danger. Or his friends. Or his more then friends. He only knows two things.

"I need to find my ring and plagg, then I need to disappear. Forever."

** I own nothing not even this computer.**


End file.
